Istén, I Knew
by Chloe3
Summary: Mornaeg is alive. He is arming the orcs with a deadly weapon. Thranduil’s kingdom is crumbling. Mirkwood is burning. Legolas and Aragorn have only each other to depend on. The battle against the Bengwiil will at last fought.
1. Because I Love You

**Title: **Isté n (I Knew)

**By: **Chloe the elvish, angst-loving, enthusiast, also being the 3rd of the "Write Sisters" ;)

**Feedback: **Yes please! My email is on my profile, and FanFiction feedback is always welcome.

**Rated: **PG-13 violence, character-torture, angst and strong drama

**Summery: **Mornaeg is alive. He is arming the orcs with a deadly weapon. Thranduil's kingdom is crumbling. Mirkwood is burning. Legolas and Aragorn have only each other to depend on. The battle against the Bengwiil will at last fought.

**Spoilers: **For my other stories in the "Bengwiil Saga", yes, but not really any others.

**Disclaimers: **Aragorn, Legolas, Thranduil, Mirkwood, Rivendelll and any other recognizable people or places are the sole property of JRR Tolkein, and I do NOT have permission to use them. BUT- you ready for this? No one is PAYING me to write! Surprised? No? Didn't think so. ;)

**NOTE: **You will NOT get this story a BIT unless you've read the other stories in this series:

**Istón, I know**

**Erfiér, Only Mortal**

**Néfredäl, Unafraid**

**Ranîmär, Within Truth**

**Marks: **/ marks are elvish translations. Example:

Isté n

/I knew/

**Dedication:**

To my readers: every single one of them.

You guys are the only reason this story exists, and you have been more than gracious and patient with me.

Hannon le.

_Please go to my profile to read my "Posting Isten Notes"! Thanks. :)_

**Isté n**

_(I Knew)_

**Chapter 1**

**"Because I love you."**

"…_you're dead." Stupid reply, really, but his mind wasn't functioning well enough yet to state anything but the obvious._

_A breathy laugh. "No, I am not."_

"_Then how-"_

"_Walk, Lindo, unless you wish to trip up and kill your human friend as well."_

"_You threw yourself out your window!" Legolas protested, ignoring the jibe._

"_Wrong again. The body found outside my window in that tree was the body of Rhinthûr. An elf, if you recall, who was killed on your father's foolishly commissioned search for Bengwiil. Tirniel was a coward, and had not told Rhinthûr's family of his death of wounds, sure that it was his fault for the lack of cure, rather than the extremity of injury._

"_So, I arranged for Rhinthûr's parents to be the ones to find him, and believing it to be a suicide, they tried to cover it up, and bore his body away in secret, for the shame of it. Of course, your friend Daurrè also happened upon them that day, and offered assistance in laying the body in the river, but he apparently didn't convey as much to you, as I figured he would not. He's a simpleton if ever you knew one, Lindo."_

_Legolas ground his teeth in silent frustration. He was having a hard enough time calming his whirling head, without Mornaeg shoving in extra insults about his friends and loved ones._

_It was simply impossible to get his thoughts around. Mornaeg? Alive? Tiro-Lim alive? How was he supposed to grasp it?_

_Distantly, he could feel Aragorn's eyes on the back of his neck. Though he couldn't see him, he sensed his friend was trying to reassure him. Calm him down._

"_You needn't look so bewildered, Lindo. I told you I would see you again. Did you not get my note?" _

_Legolas did remember the note, the one pinned to the wall of Mornaeg's room…_

_**And so I wonder: when are you coming? Oh, not yet. Soon. Let yourself be 'changed' for awhile. That will make you feel good, won't it, Lindo? Deceive yourself awhile. And when you realize that you can't change, that you are lost to despair, that you have nothing to live for, come. Join me. I miss you, mellon-nin.**_

_**Uuva-le iest le tyar-al sina naeg im.**_

_(you will wish you caused me not this pain.)_

_**Uuvam rim ad, Lindo, ea datha mi Mandossea im.**_

_(we will meet again, Lindo, I wait for you in Mandossea.)_

_**Mornaeg,**_

_**Tiro Lim**_

"_It-it was just symbolic, I thought," Legolas excused, and then felt childish and ignorant for the words._

_To add insult to injury, Moraneg laughed. "Yes, well, that's just exactly what I expected of you, Lindo."_

"_But what is Mandossea?"_

"_Sorry, enough questions for now."_

"_Mornaeg-"_

"_Oh, Lindo, DO call me Tiro-Lim."_

_Legolas locked his jaw. "I don't remember you enough."_

"_Don't give me that. Arasen-"_

"_Edren."_

_His features froze coldly. "To me he is only Arasen. Arasen told you the whole thing just today. You know all about your past. You know me as Tiro-Lim now."_

"_Only vaguely," he responded flatly._

"_Well, we'll have to refresh your memory then. Do you remember…what you did?" Mornaeg's voice turned abruptly bitter. "Do you remember what you did to Minaeg?"_

"_I…" Legolas' throat went dry, and it seemed as though Mornaeg were still the bigger, tougher elf, and Legolas still a child. He was scared. "Mornaeg…I did not kill him-"_

_Mornaeg's fist came in a blur, his hunting knife clutched in hand, and just as the pommel impacted the back of Legolas' neck, the prince slumped to the ground, heard Aragorn shout something at Mornaeg, and saw only darkness._

"Come on, Legolas…wake up. Legolas?"

Something about hearing his name sparked Legolas into awareness, and his eyes leapt open. "Aragorn?" His gaze roved over the sight before him. It was pitch black, except for the dying embers of campfire about twelve feet away. Legolas appeared to be tied with his back against a fairly sizable oak tree, his wrists bound to something about halfway around the trunk, and his ankles tied together with cord.

"Estel?" He could have _sworn_ he'd heard the human's voice…

There was a sigh of relief from somewhere beyond Legolas. "Thank the Valar, you're awake. I was beginning to worry, after two hours-"

"Mellon-nin, where are you?"

Legolas' numb hands vaguely felt the tingle of fingernails. "Can you feel that?"

The prince's head snapped around to the side, and he saw what his wrists were tied to; Aragorn's wrists. "Not exactly," he answered dryly.

Aragorn made a sort of light snort. "Good to see your humor's still there."

Legolas surprised himself with a smile. His thoughts were trying to wrap around the face of Mornaeg again. A face that now went with memories Leoglas never remembered having before. Even now, visions were flooding through his spinning head. They almost seemed familiar like a recurring dream he'd forgotten about, but now they were real. They happened, once.

"Are you all right, mellon-nin?"

"Mae ea im, Estel," Legolas assured.

/I am well/

"Are you hurt at all?"

"My head hurts, but I'll be fine. You?"

Legolas felt the human's left wrist shake violently. It occurred to him that Aragorn may have been doing that awhile, but he hadn't noticed before. "Same," came Aragorn's overly reassuring voice.

"Aragorn, what's wrong?" Legolas demanded.

"What? Oh, well I- I got into a scuffle with one of the orcs who thought I was trying to free you. I was just trying to keep you from falling off the cart, but well…anyway, I think that cut in my shoulder has opened again."

"That gash, you mean," Legolas corrected in a parental tone. "How bad is it?"

"I'll be fine, Legolas, I said that all ready. How're your wrists?"

Legolas twisted his hands around for a moment. "Tight," he answered.

"Mornaeg did it himself," Aragorn muttered, and Legolas felt him trying to loosen his bonds as well. "I've been working with them for almost an hour. No luck."

"Should we give up all ready?"

"Even if we did get free, there's no way we'd make it past the orcs or Mornaeg. They're patrolling the perimeters of this clearing."

"What should we do, then?" Legolas' voice was somewhat impatient. He hated the idea of just staying here, but it didn't appear there was a safe way out…perhaps it would be better to make an escape while traveling instead. That way the orcs would be tired anyway.

"We won't be getting much sleep tonight, so you should rest while you can," Aragorn's tone was gentle, and Legolas could tell he was still trying to take care of the prince, if only from a distance.

"As should you," he said, his thoughts whirring. _My dear Estel…who looks out for you, when you are the one looking out for everyone else? _But Legolas knew. It was his job to watch Aragorn…and he would do it to the best of his ability until they got away. _He's still sick, _he reminded himself, and an unpleasant sinking feeling filled his chest. _He still has Bengwiil in him…_

"I'll try," Aragorn promised, breaking into his thoughts.

"Good."

"Maer fuin," he murmured, as though this were just another night in the Halls of Thranduil or the House of Elrond. Just another goodnight.

Legolas almost laughed, but smiled instead, so he would have to explain why the laughter. He was too tired for it. "Maer fuin, Estel."

"What I wouldn't give," Aragorn said suddenly, his voice straining as he tried to get comfortable, "for that stack of pillows you hoard in your bedroom right about now."

Legolas found his excuse to laugh, and answered, "No matter, Strider. I wouldn't share them with you anyway."

"Yes, I bet you wouldn't." It was the last thing said that night.

"_Lindo, the great Sparrow, flies towards his- oof! His **next** perch!"_

"_Legolas, wait for me!"_

"_C'mon, Edren! Give me your hand."_

"_Just a little- a little further- got it!"_

"_Lindo assists Arasen into his tree, and the both of them begin their dangerous hunt for Tiro-Lim. The Guardian has been lost, and only the Sparrow and the Fawn can find him."_

"_Lindo and Arasen are Tiro-Lim's last hope!"_

"_Right you are, my friend!"_

_There was a quiet pause, while two small chests caught their breath, and the real woodland creatures made their usual noises._

"_Oh, hang it, Legolas! I think maybe we should give up. He's just too good at hiding!"_

"_Nonsense, Edren, where is your courage?"_

"_Courage I have, but it's hot out here."_

"_True…I suppose- I suppose we could run into the halls, and get some pressed cinnamon wine from Edärsta."_

"_I bet he would let us."_

"_Yes, I think…why don't we do that, and then come back and look for Tiro-Lim?"_

"_Arasen and Lindo tear down from the- ow!"_

"_You all right?"_

"_I'm fine," Edren grumbled, and jumped down from the tree, sucking his bleeding finger. "Just a twig."_

"_Lindo **leaps** from his perch!"_

"_Show off."_

"_Oh, it's all right, Edren. You're not the flyer anyway, you're the runner!"_

"_I know, I know…in fact, let's race to the Halls!"_

"_Very well! Ready?"_

"_Yes."_

_  
"Er, atta-"_

"_SUILAD!"_

"_AAAH!" Two pairs of small feet tore off into the woods to the sound of laughter._

_Legolas stopped in his tracks, whirling around. "Aw, Tiro-Lim!"_

"_Don't 'aw, Tiro-Lim' me, Lindo, you were going to give up and leave me in this murderous heat!"_

_Legolas was giggling uncontrollably. "Aras-Ar-Edren!" he laughed. "Get back here, it's just- It's Tiro-Lim!"_

"_What do you say we beg and plead with Edärsta for that cinnamon wine you were going to have **without** me?"_

"_We would've brought some back for you, Tiro-Lim, we promise!"_

"_Oh, I know, Lindo. I was only teasing you."_

"_Yeah," Legolas grinned, poking the much taller elf in the shoulder. "You do that a lot."_

_Mornaeg laughed. "It's only because I love you."_

Legolas' eyes snapped open. He was lying on the ground, his wrists tied in front of him once more, and three faces looked down on him. The closest was Aragorn's; the human was kneeling beside him, both bound hands on the prince's shoulder.

The other two faces were orcs, and the moment Legolas took in his surroundings, they hauled him and Aragorn both to their feet, and instantly started dragging them off into the forest by rope again.

"Ea-le mae?" Aragorn asked quietly.

/are you all right/

Legolas blinked violently, trying to focus on the woods around him. "It's still dark…and misty."

"It is very early," Aragorn answered, and then without hesitation, "Was it a dream?"

"What?"

"All that about 'Lindo the Sparrow' and 'Arasen the Fawn'…was it your dream?"

Leoglas was incredulous. "Was- was I talking in my _sleep_?"

Aragorn only nodded.

"I- yes," Legoals shook his head and blinked hard again. "Yes, I- it was a dream. A memory, I think, actually."

"About you and Mornaeg?"

Legolas nodded. _No, about me and Edren and Mornaeg. But- Valar, don't let me think about Edren… _"Why the concern, Estel? Why was I on the ground?"

"Well, they cut our ropes, but you were so fast asleep, you just fell over. They tied you up anyway, one of the orcs said to make sure you were alive." Aragorn smirked. "They really don't know a thing about elves, you know?"

Legolas returned the smile weakly. "But- elves don't _usually_ talk in their sleep, do they?"

Aragorn shrugged. "Elladan does, sometimes."

"Really?"

"Ooh yes." A mischievous twinkle lit the Ranger's eyes for a moment, and Legolas sensed a good story.

But at that moment, Mornaeg rode up beside the two, and his eyes were triumphant. "So, Lindo, you _do_ remember. Pity you never call me 'Tiro-Lim' when you are _awake_, isn't it? It would be just like old times, Lindo. And I still love teasing you, by the way. Not much has changed after all, mellon-nin!"

Legolas' mouth opened to respond, but Mornaeg rode ahead, calling, "Faster, all of you! We shall never reach Mandossea at this rate."

The orcs rushed forward at a quicker pace, and their captives were forced to follow suit.

"He heard me, didn't he, Estel?"

Aragorn nodded. "Don't let it trouble you, Legolas. He _wants_ you to be angry and to hate him…the poor fool knows no other than hate anymore, I fear."

Legolas nodded. "It's strange…in my dream- my memory, we were friends. Such good friends. Aragorn, I think I loved him dearly once."

"I believe you did, Legolas."

"What makes you so sure?"

The human shrugged softly. "You are not the only one who talks in your deep sleep. The funny thing is, in his dreams? Mornaeg calls you 'Legolas'."

"How- how are you holding up, Estel?" Legolas' gasped, gaining his friend's side at long last. It was getting harder and harder to stay even with each other as Mornaeg kept quickening their pace.

Actually, Aragorn had fallen quite a ways behind, and Legolas had to trip himself to hold the orc dragging him back enough to get even with Aragorn. The human's strength was waning quickly, it was obvious. He tried to smile ruefully, however, even though Leoglas was nowhere near fooled.

"I-" he panted, "think I'll- I'll be fine if I just…if I…don't think about it."

"About what?"

Aragorn's eyes widened in exasperation. "Anything."

Legolas nodded, feeling a bit better at the human's comical response. "Good plan. We'll stop by nightfall, I am sure of it."

Aragorn just nodded, and focused on the dirt ahead of him. _Keep moving, Estel. Then maybe you won't fall over, _he told himself, and decided that conversation was taking away his strength. Even so, he contacted Legolas' eyes with his own for a brief moment, and managed to whisper, "It helps to know you're here too."

Legolas nodded.

"Enough talking! Pick up the pace, both of you!" Mornaeg yelled from his comfortable position on his horse, and then added with a smile, "Don't die on me yet, Lindo," and took off at a gallop.


	2. Lies

**Chapter 2**

**Lies**

It was starting to rain. Aragorn blinked water out of his eyes, and tried to see through the mist. It looked as though it were getting dark. _When will we stop? _something in him demanded, and his thoughts landed on an unpleasant answer; _we're not going to._

He was getting frustrated with himself. Usually, he had _much_ more stamina than this! But he knew what was wrong…he did his best to make it look as though he was simply tired, for Legolas' sake…but he was sick. And getting sicker. And come to think of it, it was doubtful Legolas ever thought otherwise.

Aragorn knew he probably would have toppled over, half-alive, four hours ago, but his determination to help Legolas was stronger. _He's lost Edren, and is being held captive by a former friend. He doesn't need me going and dying of Bengwiil **again**._

The human's frustration rose. _Dying. I seem to be doing that to Legolas a lot lately. Good heavens, are humans always so frail, or am I just frail? _"No," he whispered quickly, shaking his head. "No, that's the Bengwiil…" _I will not hate myself for what I cannot help!_

…_oh, you could have helped it all right. Had you been stronger. Legolas is unfortunate to have a human for a friend._

"S…stop." Aragorn had little breath left in him, it felt, and certainly not enough to be talking. But the words came out in short, quiet gasps all the same. He had to conquer the Bengwiil's lies this time. There was really no alternative.

_Why do you bother, Aragorn? Why do you even **bother** fighting? You might as well just fall over dead now, before Legolas catches up with you, and you hurt him._

"I won't hurt him…"

_Oh yes you will, you always do. You'll yell, and scream, and say things you never meant to, and you'll scare him **again**._

"I won't."

_You can't help it._

"I'll fight it."

_You're erfiér. Such a struggle is beyond you, Aragorn heir of Isildur. It's not your fault, you're just- too weak for this._

"Us nin er."

/leave me alone./

_Please, don't bother, Aragorn. Think of lying down and giving up. Such relief!_

"Leave me alone, I know…" his voice cut off in a gasp. The stitch in his side was becoming unbearable, and his vision was blurring. "I know I'm…I'll…" His throat felt dry from harsh breathing, and his head spun crazily.

"Enough talking!" the orc snarled, and tugged on Aragorn's rope harshly. The human flew forward, and stumbled to avoid falling.

"Quicken the pace!" Mornaeg shouted from somewhere just behind Aragorn. "Faster, all of you, noro lim!"

So Aragorn kept running blindly on, heart pounding feverishly against his ribs. At least with his breath panting raggedly in his ears, he couldn't hear those lying voices anymore.

Legolas' feet pounded against the ground dully. He was beginning to lose all feel in his knees, and his chest ached from breathing in the damp wind at such a rate. It seemed like hours ago when Mornaeg had last screamed, 'Faster, all of you, noro lim!' and he was beginning to wonder if the elf intended to kill them this way.

He wished he was beside Aragorn, and was hoping constantly the human was all right. The elf prince's body had started to throb horribly hours ago, and he could only guess how badly Aragorn felt, he being a human, and sick with Bengwiil besides.

Angrily, he reprimanded himself for not fighting their way out hours ago. Now, they were both too weak to get away. All they could do was run.

At long last, Mornaeg made his way back to the front of the group, just behind the small cart being tugged by Horthor.

"Mornaeg!" Legolas cried, swallowing his pride to ask, "Please let us stop, Aragorn is only a human-"

"Weak you mean?"

Legolas just bit his lip.

"No, Legolas, I don't think we'll be stopping tonight." The elf had the gall to act apologetic. "Maybe tomorrow night, though. Ask me in twenty-four hours."

"Mornaeg, please!"

"Are you begging, Lindo?" Mornaeg seemed thrilled at the idea.

Legolas' jaw set, and he broke decisively his eye-contact with Mornaeg.

"Too bad," the other sighed. "But, since you bothered to _ask_ to stop, I can't let you go un-rewarded, can I? Gamdag!"

A sneer-ish orc with more earrings than armor came ambling up from Legolas' right. "Yes, Adar?"

"Let's see if we can run that human a little faster. Double the speed!"

Gamdag seemed to simply light up, and turned around, shouting, "Uk-ash thrack!" The bulky orcs shouted and banged their armor in approval, the scrawnier ones whined about "just too much running…" and in moments, the sound of pounding feet filled the air.

Legolas' eyes snapped to Mornaeg as he was yanked down the forest path. "'Adar', Mornaeg? You have taught the black beasts of Mordor your _own_ Noble Tongue!"

"I said I was the father of a new future for them, and told them to therefore assign the noble word of 'Adar' to me. Father."

"I _know_ what Adar means, Mornaeg," Legolas spat, nearly tripping twice in his rage. "But- you taught this to orcs, are you _mad_!"

Mornaeg smiled unperturbedly. "Perhaps, Lindo. But let me tell you, by the time I am finished with you and your mortal tagalong, you will very much wish you hadn't wasted your energy on indignance. In fact- perhaps you have a little _too_ much energy. Gamdag! Faster at it, I think Lindo has some excess energy to run off."

Legolas' heart panicked. "Mornaeg, you're going to kill Aragorn with this!"

"Well that _is_ too bad, Lindo, I must say."

Legolas' tone became softer. "Mornaeg? Wh…why do you not call me Legolas?"

To the prince's surprise, the façade on Mornaeg's face seems to crack, and with a glare of absolute loathing, he turned and galloped to the head of the line once more like a frightened fly.

Legolas attempted to hang back, desperate to find Aragorn, but through the roaring and pounding of the orcs, he couldn't even guess where the human was. At last, he gave up looking, and called over his shoulder, "Estel! Uvva le rado an nin?"

/can you find a way to me/

thudduhduh thudduhduh thudduhduh the sound of Aragorn's boots against the damp ground were becoming a monotonous pattern.

He felt like he was being propelled only by momentum, and really had no strength in him. He was sure he'd fall over any minute, and not be able to get up. The scene of hitting the ground played over and over in his head, and it felt as though he were putting it off just a step, and then a step more, and one more…

_Aragorn, you'll never make it. You cannot be expected to be strong anymore, you're nothing but mortal! How could you ever-_

"-lone." He wanted to scream 'just leave me alone!' but only the very last part came from between his dry lips. _I'm sure I could fight it if only I knew where Legolas was, _he thought desperately.

As though in reply, from somewhere discouragingly far ahead, he heard elvish words…"Estel! Uvva le rado an nin?"

_He can't make it, Legolas, he doesn't even know where you are!_

"He's…so far…" he gasped.

_You'll never make it, will you?_

_No._

_You're just a human._

_Yes._

_Poor mortal…alas! You are a friend of the immortal, and you cannot compare. You are weak, Isildur's heir._

_Am I? Am I really…?_

_Yes._

Aragorn knew, somehow, that he was simply giving in. Allowing the lies to be true to him…but it was beginning to feel like there was no alternative, and arguing with himself only wore him out more.

"Rado an nin, Estel!" Legolas' voice called a second time.

/find a way to me, Estel/

He was trying to help. Trying to give him the determined strength that Aragorn normally possessed. Strength triggered by a valiant speech or brave proclamation.

But he didn't seem to have that strength anymore.

_What do I do?_

_Give up._

_Why?_

_You can't do anything else, Aragorn. You're just not strong enough._

_I know…I'm sorry, Legolas._

So Aragorn did. He gave up. And the moment his heart conceded with his head, the rest of his body followed, and his knees crumpled beneath him.

"Oh, what a wonderful idea, Lindo," Mornaeg scoffed, doubling back to ride by Legolas again. "Call the human, have him get even with you so you can talk together."

Legolas glared blankly back at Mornaeg, and if only to spite him, turned around again, and shouted, "Rado an nin, Estel!"

"Whatever it is that pleases you, Lindo, you go right ahead and waste your energy. I don't mind."

Leoglas opened his mouth to respond, when a great din built up from further back in the crowd of orcs, and the whole group came to a standstill. A bony orc with staples all the way up the side of his face, dashed up from the direction of the noise. "The human fell over!" he almost whined.

"Keep going," Mornaeg dismissed easily.

Legolas mind shocked. "You can't!"

"Drag him until he wakes or dies," the elf added as an afterthought, and then reined his horse around to keep going.

"Mornaeg, you can't do that, you'll kill him!"

"Oh dear," the other repeated airily.

"Please, put him up on the cart!"

"No."

"He won't slow the pace, he-"

"No, I don't think so, Lindo."

"Please!"

"My, my, mellon-nin, are you _begging_ now?"

Leoglas froze, and his jaw started to set itself automatically. But he fought it. Swallowed it. _Only for Estel. _"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, Mornaeg, I am."

A slow smile stepped across Mornaeg's face. "Then say it, Lindo."

"I…I beg you to put Aragorn on the cart until he wakes up. Please, Mornaeg."

The other elf's eyes were triumphant, and he nodded with an infuriating smile. "Very well, little Lindo. Brog!"

After a few moments, a huge, blocky sort of orc shoved to the front. "Adar?"

"Take the human, and tie him onto the cart."

Brog nodded, and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Legolas and Mornaeg alone for a moment. Legolas couldn't meet the other's eyes, knowing what he'd find there. Probably, Mornaeg didn't want Aragorn to die anymore than Legolas did, since the human was his only leverage against Legolas. He simply couldn't risk it.

Brog came bursting through the crowd a few moments later, with Aragorn carelessly slung over his shoulder. The human's hair was stringy from sweat and rain, and it made him look all the more vulnerable.

Brog flipped Aragorn over onto the small, wooden cart, tying the rope dangling from the end of the human's wrists, to the top rung surrounding the bed of the cart. Aragorn didn't stir once, leading Legolas to the horrible conclusion that even he had underestimated the human's illness. Surely if it was a fever again, Aragorn would have at least moved by now. But he was out cold.

"If he's going to survive, he'll need some water," Legolas told Mornaeg frankly.

"Oh, but Lindo! There's water falling from the sky," Mornaeg responded smoothly, and then pressed to the front of the line, calling, "Noro-lim!"

The horde pressed forward into the forest once more, and never once did Legolas' eyes leave the limp form of Aragorn, as it was tossed back and forth across the bed of the cart. _Be all right, Estel. Hang on._

It was probably midnight. That's what it felt like.

The last hour had become a routine; move one foot forward, and then move the next foot forward. Over and over and over and over and over…

Leoglas couldn't really guess where they were going. It was starting to feel like they were making their way to the Misty Mountains or the Grey Mountains, depending on whether they were going West or North. He was fairly certain they weren't headed South, because they would have either crossed the Halls of Thranduil again, or the Forest River. Of course, if they _were_ going West, they really should have crossed the Forest River by now _anyway_…

It was starting to drive him crazy, really.

Part of him demanded that he simply break down and ask Mornaeg, but he couldn't seem to catch up with the other elf, who stayed at the front of the line constantly right now. And besides…he wasn't in the mood to be taunted again.

Every time Mornaeg called him 'Lindo', it struck a harsh cord in Legolas' chest, and made him angry. The injustice of Mornaeg using the childhood memories -memories Legolas had only just gotten back himself- against him was intolerable. Somehow, it was better simply not talking to Mornaeg.

Leoglas' knees ached, but he actually felt fairly all right, considering the miles he'd probably walked. He was still worried about Aragorn, but seeing the human rocking back and forth in the cart was rather a comfort right now.

_At least he doesn't have to walk. At least he can rest._

Despite the fact that Mornaeg would obviously use Aragorn against Legolas eventually, it was good to know that the elf didn't intend to kill him…at least not yet. Until that time came, the human was safe.

Now, all there was left to do was worry about what exactly Mornaeg had in mind for when they reached their destination. So Legolas worried his way through another long, dark, and rainy hour in the Mirkwood forest. During that whole hour, the only sound was his feet on the forest floor…

…until at long, long last, Mornaeg shouted, "Mae Govonnen, Lindo, to Mandossea."


	3. Dreams Again

**Chapter 3**

**Dreams Again**

'Mandossea', at first glance, looked little more than a clearing in the woods, with several large, wooden corrals. But then Legolas looked up. The trees above him were networked with platforms, ladders, ropes, and even, it appeared, rooms. It was akin to the woods in Lorien Legolas had always heard talk of, but nowhere near as efficient or beautiful. Still, it was pretty good, for what Leoglas assumed must have been the orcs' hand at building.

"Mandossea?" he repeated after a long moment of staring up. "Why, what is this place?"

'Mandossea' meant, roughly, 'see what terror is'. Both unnerving and unsurprising, to say the least.

Mornaeg's victorious smirk didn't improve the situation. "Mandossea is…the birth of a new idea. A new- tactic. But don't concern yourself with that, Legolas, you won't be permitted to assist in my plans anyway. I have more important things for you."

Legolas' next question was predictable, but that didn't bother him a bit. "What about Aragorn? What will be done with him?"

"Nothing, yet. Later on? Why don't you wait and see, Lindo? Don't go spoiling all my surprises." Mornaeg smiled at Legolas' glare, and spun his horse around full-circle, addressing the orcs over his shoulder. "Take the both of them bellow to my tree. Leave the human, but stake the elf."

The orcs were, as ever, quick to comply, untying, and then pulling the limp form of Aragorn down from the cart, and heading forward to a particularly giant tree. When they gained the back of it, Legolas could see there was a great stone covering the entrance into a hollow trunk.

Brog pushed to the front, and with the assistance of two other orcs- who seemed more than a little disgruntled to help -shoved the titanic stone away from the entrance by about three feet.

Legolas was shoved inside by two orcs, followed by a third with a torch. The interior was a maze of roots and damp moss, and it surprised Legolas that the tree was even standing anymore, with so many plants feeding off of it from the inside.

Legolas gasped as an unexpected kick landed just behind his right knee, and his sank to his knees, catching himself on bound hands. The second orc scrambled to grab the rope attached to the prince's wrists, jerking it and Legolas closer to the ceiling, and securing it to a tree-root that looked more like a tree branch.

Legolas didn't even bother trying to mess with his ropes just yet. He knew they wouldn't just come undone, and that he'd never make it out the small entrance past the orcs anyway.

Brog approached the entrance, and carelessly, threw Aragorn inside. "Estel?" Legolas called urgently, but the human lay still near the entrance, his wrists still bound, and his eyes still closed. And after the orcs grunted and complained for a few moments, the stone slid shut again, plunging the two friends into complete darkness.

"Estel, can you hear me? Aragorn?"

No response. Legolas wished that his elven glow could illuminate further than it did, but in such total darkness, it was hard for him to see his own hands in front of his face, let alone the human who lay sprawled somewhere across the room. Plus there was something about the darkness of evil as well as the lack of light that seemed to constrain his ability to bring light.

"Please be okay, Aragorn," he pleaded allowed, because it felt better to pretend that his friend was still awake, listening to him. He felt less alone that way. "I can't lose you yet, mellon-nin, not after all we've been through. Just hang on, all right? Hold on, Estel."

_He hurt…he hurt so **badly**, and it broke Aragorn's heart._

_He was writing, quickly, so he would not forget what he was going to say. Such words- words that blurred in the human's vision, though he was desperate to read them over the other's shoulder._

_At last, the elf stopped writing, put his paper down, and stared out the window. Looking for something…someone. Aragorn took the paper, his eyes dancing back and forth over it._

_**An mellon mi enyalie,**_

_/to the friend who will remember/_

_**Time hurts. It burns. It freezes.**_

_**Fair it well then. Tonight. For this night it leaves.**_

_**This night time ceases, leaving a cold body in its wake.**_

_**The heir to folly. The king of none.**_

_**But no more.**_

_**Remember tonight in hope. This night. The night of surrender.**_

_**Remember…**_

_**-Legolas**_

_Legolas was watching him now, his eyes were sad, and dull. "I can't do it anymore, Estel, I tried, but…I'm ready to give up, now. I wish you were here to talk me out of it, mellon-nin," and he smiled vaguely, taking the paper from Aragorn's hands gently, and laying it under his mattress. "He'll find it here…he'll always know what it is that hurt me so, and why…"_

"_No, Legolas you don't have to do this!"_

"_I'm sorry, Estel…I know you would probably hate me for this, maybe, but…if you only knew how badly it hurt, I think you would understand."_

_Aragorn's heart raced. "Legolas- don't! Don't, Legolas! Eal lin layaa kuil!"_

_He wasn't listening. He stood slowly, and reached for-_

_The human tried to yell the other's name, but his voice was growing quieter and quieter. He was lying on his bed, and seemed to be stiff, unable to stop his friend. "Lib ta...in sikil...please, Legolas…please don't."_

"_Estel…for you, Estel."_

"_In sikil! Eal lin layaa kuil! Legolas, please! I'm coming, I'm coming! LEGOLAS!"_

"Estel STOP IT!"

Aragorn jerked awake, and wondered for a moment if he'd even opened his eyes yet. It was completely dark, and smelled musty, wherever he was. His mind fought to catch up with him, and finally decided that Mornaeg must have reached his destination.

Finally, these random thoughts stopped running through his head, and his thoughts landed on Legolas.

"Legolas?"

"Ea le firn san, Estel," Legolas moaned from somewhere across the room.

Aragorn crawled as best he could with his hands still bound, towards the sound of the elf's voice, and the very, very pale glow of his skin. "Legolas, I'm here. I'm not dead, I'm here."

"Ea le firn san!"

"I'm not dead," Aragorn insisted, continuing his crawl.

"Then what were you dreaming of, Estel?" Legolas demanded quietly, almost more to himself.

"I- it was just a dream, Legolas, it doesn't matter."

Legolas nodded, and then, remembering his friend couldn't see him, said, "All right."

"Where are we, anyway?"

The prince put away his thoughts, his fears, the conclusions he'd jumped to…Aragorn was sick, after all, and could have any **number** of dreams. Instead, he worked with his ropes some more, and explained all he could to Aragorn.

When the stone slid away from the tree's entrance, both friends were instantly blinded, giving the orcs an unexpected advantage. All Legolas knew, as he squinted through the unbearable daylight, was that the rope tied to the ropes around his wrists was being untied, and that he was next moment stumbling outside after Aragorn.

Upon further inspection, once his sight had adjusted, it wasn't actually terribly bright outside. Black clouds still covered the sky efficiently, and rain was sprinkling on the forest in a light mist. The whole woodland looked light dusk, and everything was overly green.

"This way," the orc over Legolas shoulder growled, shoving him towards a ladder leading up the tree he and Aragorn had been in.

Aragorn turned automatically to follow, but Gamdag snarled, stepping in the human's way, and shoving him in the other direction. "Not you, human," he spat, "you're going with the _rest_ of the workers."

"Na-ea mae im, Legolas," Aragorn promised, for he could feel the elf's worried expression on his back.

/I will be fine, Legolas./

Legolas only nodded -holding with all his mind to the idea that Mornaeg wouldn't kill the human as long as he could be useful- and allowed himself to be shoved to and then prodded up the ladder.

When he gained the top of the ladder, two new orcs hauled him up by his arms, and then marched him off down the platform.

"Stop," came one of the orc's gruff orders, and both grabbed Legolas' shoulders, halting him, and knocking on the makeshift door they had stopped in front of.

That was rather surprising, since Legolas had never seen an orc resist smashing the door in. And even now, as the taller of the two knocked, it was clumsy, as though someone had only just recently showed him how.

"Enter," came the response from within, and Legolas knew instantly where he was headed, and tried to swallow the fear in his throat.

Sure enough, the door opened to reveal a small, dim room, where there were only really five things other than the wood holding it together: a wooden chest, a metal ring protruding from the floor, a length of elven rope tied to the ring, a window, and Mornaeg.

"Mae Govonnen, Lindo."

Legolas only glared in response.

"Oh, such manners you have." Mornaeg tisked loudly, and motioned the orcs clinging to Legolas closer. "I hope you don't mind me tying you up, Lindo," he said conversationally, picking up the length of elven rope tied to the ring, and looping it around Legolas's all ready bound wrists. "But you see, I don't trust the orcs with knots." His fingers flew in circles, looping, tying off, and then finally pulling a last knot with a tug.

His eyes flicked to the two orcs. "Stand by the door please, mellhyn-nin."

Legolas flinched at the free use of the elvish word for 'friends' on orcs. "What do you want, Mornaeg? To kill me?"

"Why would I kill you, Lindo? You are my friend, remember? We don't _all_ try to get our friends killed." He smirked, and Legolas felt his fingers curl into fists automatically. "Now, now, Lindo. Don't be so angry," Mornaeg teased coolly. "You really ought to be proud of yourself, you've done us all a favor. Arasen was weak anyway. Survival of the fittest and all that."

"Edren was good." The prince's anger was just barely in check, and he knew it. He couldn't hold it back long…by the look in the other elf's eyes, that was the idea.

"Oh, I don't know," Mornaeg countered thoughtfully. "Had he lived, he would only be bumbling into more stupid mistakes, and gotten himself killed sooner later. It's inevitable with truly cowardly elves; they always choose what looks right over the smart thing. No, no, I don't blame you for getting him killed. I've been meaning to thank you, actually."

"Murderer!" Legolas screamed, unable to handle the verbal abuse to Edren, and unwilling to let go of his pain. He knew he was tied, he knew there were orcs just behind him, but that didn't deter him in the least from flying at Mornaeg, fingers outstretched for the knife dangling from the other's belt.

He briefly felt the impact of his fingers against Mornaeg's face, but he was not expecting the elf's knee to shoot up in ready defense, and wind him in the stomach. Legolas doubled over, coughing, and crumpling to the floor. He could feel Morneag towering over him, but his eyes stayed resolutely shut.

"Thank you for killing him, Lindo," he said coldly, with no tone gratitude whatsoever.

"You killed him."

"No, I mean it. It's been really helpful to me, having him dead. Hannon le."

"Leave me alone."

"Now that Arasen's gone, it's _really_ a great load off my mind."

"What do you want!" Legolas demanded, sitting up, and opening his eyes at last. "What. Do you _want_, Mornaeg."

"Call me Tiro-Lim," Mornaeg crooned. "Call me Tiro-Lim, and we'll start there."

"I…no." Legolas broke off in a gasp, toppling over from a second blow, and clutching his stomach again, while Mornaeg casually massaged his knuckles.

"Call me Tiro-Lim, Lindo," he repeated, once the prince had recovered partially.

Legolas hesitated, trying to collect his thoughts, and felt Mornaeg move around behind him. "Why."

"Call me Tiro-Lim," he repeated simply. "I want to hear it."

"Is that all?"

No response.

"All right then, all right." Legolas sighed, knowing that Mornaeg was winning, but it was a small victory, and somehow not worth getting beat up over. _If only for Estel, I need to keep my head. _"All right," he said a third time. "Tiro-Lim." And he shrugged, to prove it didn't mean anything.

There was a pause. "Good, Lindo…good. Now, I want you to say: 'ea le mellon-nin, Tiro-Lim'."

/you are my friend, Tiro-Lim./

_No way, _Legolas wanted to say, but he paused instead, choosing his words carefully. "'Mellon' is a word I do not use lightly, Morn-" he felt a whisper of movement behind him, "Tiro-Lim," he corrected quickly, and there was stillness behind him.

"Just say it, Lindo, you once said it freely."

"Yes, but that was a long time ago!"

"And…?"

"And…" Legolas bit his lip and shook his head, glancing over his shoulder towards where Mornaeg probably stood. "I don't really remember that time anymore, Tiro-Lim. I don't know you as a friend. I know you only as Aragorn and my enemy, and- Edren's KILLER," he added passionately, half expecting pain, but Mornaeg didn't stir. "And," he went on carefully, "and all I remember of you clearly, is how you blamed me for the death of your brother, which you could have prevented, had you-"

Legolas cried out, despite the fact that he had mentally planned not to make a sound. His back arched when Mornaeg's boot made contact with it, and through the blinding pain, he heard the elf murmuring dangerously, "I am not the one to blame for Minaeg's death, Lindo, and judging by how you sacrificed Edren for yourself, it does not surprise me that my brother died."

Mornaeg aimed a kick at Legolas' side, and lashed out hard, making contact with the heal of his boot. Legolas gasped, and fell over, moaning quietly, but trying to grip himself. Lying on the floor, he opened his eyes halfway, and found himself facing Mornaeg's boots. The soles and heals were hammered metal.

"Now. Say: 'ea le mellon-nin, Tiro-Lim'. Mean it, Lindo."

Legolas licked his lips numbly. Was it worth it? To save the word 'mellon' -a word more meaningful to him than Mornaeg could ever understand- for Aragorn? For Edren?

"Say it, Lindo."

"Ea-" Legolas paused.

"Yes…?"

"Ea le friend, Tiro-Lim."

Legolas couldn't see him, but he was pretty sure Mornaeg was glaring, judging by the warm spot on the back of his head. He let a smirk cross his face, before it disappeared behind a clenched jaw as Mornaeg dealt another blow to his back.

"That way," the orc who had just cut Aragorn's ropes told him, pointing to a line of orcs standing in front of a makeshift table between two trees. The human was prodded and shoved by the orcs on either side of him towards the line, and then jerked to a halt.

The line moved quickly, and finally, Aragorn was standing in front of the table. A particularly deformed-looking orc stood behind the table, which was littered with crude weapons and tools. Aragorn eyed the assorted knives interestedly, his fingers twitching to snatch one.

"_Think of your fingers as silent," _Elrohir's voice echoed in his ears, "_and keep your wrist straight; the fingers work, not the hand. Use your index finger, and your middle finger, because that way, you can slip it against your palm before anyone gets a glimpse. Now. The **really** important thing, Estel, do **not** tell Adda I taught you this, and if ever you try it on Elladan, don't lift anything from his pocket, because he always notices, his reflexes are **much** better than yours, and I don't want to explain to Adda how your fingers got broken."_

Aragorn smiled gently to himself, but his memory was cut short by the especially ugly orc across the table shouting, "Hey!" and throwing a pointed stick at him. Aragorn caught it, and then looked at the orc questioningly.

But he didn't get the question answered, because, next second, he was being shoved off into the woods again. They walked for only a few minutes, and then found themselves facing a curtain of ivy. Looking up, Aragorn could see it had been purposefully hung from the trees above with twine. It would have been beautiful, if steam was leaking out like slimy oil between the leaves. Stumbling in front of the orcs' rough hands, he stepped through the curtain to an unbelievable sight.

They were standing in a forest room about twenty feet across in all directions. Ivy curtains ran all the way around like walls, holding moister and heat in, making the air very stuffy. In the center of the clearing were three trees, and all looked as though they were dying.

And, most terrifying of all, on the ground, covering half the dirt floor, baby green, pointing arrow-up to the sky…Bengwiil.

"You're growing Bengwiil," he said blankly, meaning 'you' as Mornaeg, even though he wasn't there.

The orcs ignored him, giving him a shove forward, taking it step by step, until he was standing on soil instead of Bengwiil. "Plant the roots," the orc said stupidly, "and dig in the dirt with the stick. Roots are over there," he motioned vaguely to a burlap sack sitting a few feet away.

"Do it in a row," the second orc added, and the first nodded importantly.

"Yes, in a row, and be careful with the roots, Adar says they die easy."

Aragorn rolled his eyes, still having a hard time adjusting to the free use of 'Adda' by orcs of all beings. "Right," he said easily, and to at least get their bad breath off his neck, started immediately to churning up the soil with his pointed stick.

It took a little while, but eventually, the orcs pulled back to wander around by the ivy curtains instead, giving Aragorn a chance to look around. To his surprise, there were in fact, other people churning up soil around him, as well as retrieving new roots from the living plants. A great many were orcs, but it looked as though there were one or two elves as well. Aragorn's guess was that the orcs were paid to help, and the elves were not. It was the only way Mornaeg could have gotten a creature like an orc into gardening.

The human's curiosity grew as one of the elves tossed him odd glances, and then hastily got back to work. _Could Adda be here? _part of Aragorn's mind couldn't help but ask. But as his eyes roved back and forth over the area, he saw only three elves, and each had blonde hair. _Perhaps he is in Mandossea, but somewhere other than here, _he told himself hopefully. He wasn't used to having his own father gone…it was hard to fit into his head.

Aragorn could feel the orcs' eyes on the back of his neck again, so he started back to work, diving to the bag of roots, and grabbing a handful. They were, in fact, more like baby Bengwiil than anything else. A small, light green root with a curled-up leaf on top. Aragorn handled the delicate plants over to his spot, and started to digging up the dirt again.

He'd almost finished the first ditch, when his mind caught up with him. _Just what are you doing? _An excellent question. He wasn't very well going to plant Bengwiil on _purpose_ was he? Glancing over his shoulder, Aragorn was sure there was no one watching him currently.

Keeping his back to the outer rim of orcs, he slipped a knife from up his sleeve silently, and let it drop into his palm. "Hannon le, Elrohir," he whispered under his breath, smiling at the stolen item, and lifting the first Bengwiil plant.

Without hesitation, Aragorn slit the root from the leaf, and then poked what was left of the stem into the dirt, leaving the baby leaf poking naked from the dark soil. Aragorn was a Ranger, but it didn't even take that to know that a plant could not grow without a root system. With nothing but a stem, the leaf would curl up and die for sure.

He smiled to himself, and slit the next root. And the next. The other nice thing about this was, he didn't have to dig much to stick a thin stem into the ground. But he used the stick anyway, to put on a show of working to the orcs, at least.

_I hope Legolas is all right._

"Mellon, Legolas, _mellon_. It's not hard to say. 'Ea le mellon-nin'."

Legolas licked the blood from his lip, and rose to his knees yet again. "Why do you care! Even if I say the words, Mornaeg, I do not mean them!"

"Say it, Lindo, it'll be just like old times."

"No, no _not_ like old times!" Legolas' throat was starting to hurt from shouting so often. "In 'old times', Mornaeg, you were sane. You _were_ a friend, you deserved the name of 'mellon', as I understand from Edren. But that is all I know. What perhaps you once were, and it is _not_ what you are NOW!"

Legolas curled in on himself as the expected blows came. One kick in the stomach, two, maybe three to the back, and finally, unexpectedly, fingers in his hair. Mornaeg jerked the prince's head up so he was looking directly into those hateful, unnaturally green eyes.

"If you remembered your own past better, Lindo, you would call me 'mellon' in an instant. I was your brother once."

Legolas watched the eyes in complete confusion. They bounced back and forth, as though Mornaeg had decided he wanted Legolas to love him. As though he just _wanted_ to be his friend. But the emotion was being covered by hate, anger, and malevolence.

"Call me 'mellon', Lindo, do it. DO IT!"

Legolas flinched away, and shut his eyes. "You're mad, Mornaeg."

There was a short, painful pause, full of unspoken words, and then…to Legolas' shock, he felt himself being vaulted off the floor haphazardly, and could hear Mornaeg's rasping breath in his ears. His eyes flashed open, but by then, he was flying across the room.

A cry ripped from his all ready sore throat, as he came to the rope-tether's end, and was jerked back by his wrists towards the center of the room, landing hard on the wood floor. It all happened in a millisecond, and it took a full three heartbeats for the prince to even realize that Mornaeg had in fact thrown him across the room.

The two orcs on either side of him messed for a couple hopeless seconds with the knot around his wrists, and Mornaeg had to step across the room and untie it himself, shoving Legolas a step back towards them when he finished.

"Take him back downstairs."


	4. Anorc

**Chapter 4**

**Anorc**

Aragorn shoved another sliced root up his right sleeve, since his left was all ready full. The clear oil seeping from the dead plants soaked in the inside of the Ranger's sleeves, but he ignored it. Bengwiil had a horrible effect on him, but these baby plants didn't seem to have developed such power yet. Aragorn was starting to feel nauseated, but he blamed that on the fever with which he'd arrived.

He tried, as often as possible, to keep his mind off that fever, though. He didn't want to think about just how little chance he had of surviving long out here in his condition.

"Good job, are they all in your sleeve?"

Aragorn jumped in spite of himself, as a whisper carrying some rather bad breath hissed directly into his ear.

"Ruhks, human, don't go alerting the orcs, will you?" the other whispered almost in amusement. "Are the roots up your sleeve?"

Aragorn hesitated a moment, then nodded, still hacking as nonchalantly as possible at the ground in front of him. "What do you want?"

"Pull them out of your sleeve, and put them next to you where the orcs won't see them," the voice whispered quickly.

Aragorn pondered that. Slowly, his hand slid abruptly up his right sleeve, snatching the few roots he'd put in there, and setting them subtly on the ground by his boot, where the orcs wouldn't see them.

"Gabil ai-u," the person whispered, and Aragorn felt a whisper of movement that suggested he had grabbed the roots. "I can't stay here long, get the rest of the roots out, I'll be back."

Aragorn made to reply, but whoever had been over his shoulder was completely gone. He hacked away at the dirt, planting a few more mutilated plants, while emptying his left sleeve to the ground by his boot again.

Finally, his sleeve was empty, and he continued with his work, putting the roots in the pile by his boot now instead. He glanced around to see if whoever that had been was returning, but he couldn't see a sign of anyone making their way to him.

The human apprehensively pressed the roots closer to the dirt and his foot, as though it would keep people from suspecting him. Where was that person? _Who_ was that person?

"_Gabil ai-u," _he remembered the deep tone telling him. It wasn't Common Tongue, obviously, nor was it Elvish. Aragorn knew he'd heard that sort of voice as well as the language before. If only he could remember…

"I'll take these in two trips, I think."

Aragorn managed not to flinch when the deep voice appeared in his ear again. "I can't leave here, or I'd help you," he told the stranger.

He didn't know why, but he could tell the other person was grinning. "That's all right. I'll be back for the rest."

And he was gone.

Perhaps ten minutes later, he had returned, and Aragorn's root-pile had grown even more. "My," he heard the voice whisper, "you're good."

Aragorn smiled in spite of himself, and then paused, as the being made to leave with the last of the roots. "Who are you?" he murmured over his shoulder.

There was another pause, and then, almost excitedly, the voice answered back, "In about a half of an hour, we all get put back in our cells, or holes, or caves, or wherever it is you're currently being kept."

"Hollow tree," Aragorn interjected dryly, and could tell the being was grinning again.

"Right, your hollow tree then. Well, Mornaeg looks over the Bengwiil himself at noon, so when he's done with that, we'll all come back out, and they put us together to have 'something to eat'." He concluded sarcastically.

"All right," Aragorn responded quietly.

"At supper, I'll find you and introduce myself. Goodbye till then!"

"Wait, how will-" Aragorn looked up. He was gone. Again. The human sighed, and started hacking at the dirt.

"Hold still, Legolas," Aragorn urged for the fourth time.

"I don't want you to help me, Estel, I want you to rest!" the elf protested.

Aragorn ignored him, running the dry cloth over Legolas' split lip again. "If only we had some water, or herbs…anything moist." His eyes darted over the cave, now illuminated by a torch that Aragorn had managed to light with his flint stone. Fortunately, the torch had been sitting, unlit, in one of the corners. Rather easy to find, even.

Too easy. Aragorn had the sneaking suspicion that Mornaeg had left it there on purpose. He didn't want to know why.

"Wet?" Legolas repeated.

"Well, I can't wipe this blood away with a dry cloth, I need- hm…well, nothing for it." Aragorn made to dab the tip of the cloth against his tongue.

"Estel, what are you doing!"

Aragorn looked up, and then burst into laughter. "Legolas, you're face!"

The look of panic was still firmly attached to the prince's features. "You are not going to use your saliva on my lip, thank you."

Aragorn was still laughing. "Well, what do you suggest? I can't do this dry."

"Do you have to spit on it…?" The prince's voice sound sickened, as though he were feeling physically ill.

The human grinned in response, and shrugged. "Unless you can think of something else- and I don't want you to start telling me to go rest again," he added hastily.

"Well- what about the roots?" Legolas cocked his head at the ceiling.

Aragorn nodded slowly, "That might work." Pulling his stolen knife from his boot, he began slicing at one of the healthier-looking tree roots. Slipping the torn cloth in his hand under the root, he managed to collect three or four precious drops of faintly brown liquid.

Legolas hissed as the cloth touched his cut lip. "I don't know what Mornaeg's problem is, honestly, Estel. I think he's simply lost his mind."

"Hm," Aragorn answered vaguely, rubbing the damp corner against the cut across Legolas' forehead now.

"He says things that make no sense, and then expects me- he's under the delusion, maybe, that- I just don't understand why he does what he's doing. It's not logical, it's not- there's no method to it."

Aragorn paused in his work for the first time. "Did he hurt you, Legolas? More than these bruises?" It was a personal question, and Aragorn knew it, but it had to be asked.

"Maybe…if only a little. I'm all right, though, it was- it was mostly jibes at Edren…it- I…" Legolas shook his head. "I- don't want…I'm trying not to think about him, Estel, I'm trying so hard."

"I know you are," the human answered gently, continuing to clean the cut on his friend's head.

"I can't bear to forget him, but I…can't stand thinking about it either."

"It?"

"His death…It's as though I keep seeing it replayed in my mind." The elf shut his eyes. "I said…I told him not to leave me, that he couldn't die for me, and he said- that I was worth it."

"I know. I know, Legolas, I was there." Aragorn paused again, watching the elf tenderly. Wishing he could step into his memories and put something else where Edren's death was.

"And he said that he loved me, and I said I loved him as well, and I…and…" Legolas' eyes opened, and glimmered in the dim light. "There were so many things I wanted to say to him before I never saw him again, Aragorn…I don't think I ever said more than three of them all his life."

Aragorn was quiet for along moment, picturing Edren's death in his own head, and trying hard to understand a fragment of how much it must be hurting his friend to see the same thing.

_Edren was piled on by two as well, but one clung to each arm, holding him to his knees instead. Legolas almost flinched to the side to avoid them, but two of the orcs latched onto him as well, one grabbing his left shoulder, and one his bound wrists._

Aragorn's eyebrows furrowed as he thought…"The third orc that grabbed onto Edren, Legolas…where did he grab him?"

"Why?"

"Do you remember?"

The prince looked up in confusion, and then thought hard himself. "…the first two had him by the arms…the third one grabbed his shoulders," he said definitely, and then repeated, "why?"

"And one grabbed your left shoulder, one your wrists in front of you, and the other…the other had his hands on your shoulders, correct?"

Legolas thought, remembering what the bruises on his arms and shoulders felt like. "Yes…the third one was huge, and he was standing in front of me-"

"In front?"

"Yes."

Aragorn shook his head, laying the blood-stained cloth in his lap a minute while he thought.

_They don't want me to see Legolas. Why! His body was telling him to work harder, to force the orcs away, but he couldn't shake them…_

Edren held from the back. Legolas from the front. And Aragorn unable to watch…

_Er…_

_Atta…_

_Nelde!_

…_SHWOONT_

And then his face slackened with realization, and he met Legolas' gaze steadily. "So it was set up."

"What was?" Legolas demanded, confusion obvious on his face.

"Edren's death, Legolas…it was set up. He was held from the back, you from the front. He swerved forward out of the orcs' grip, and slammed right into your unprotected back. The orcs didn't want me to watch, but I turned my head that way once or twice, and- Mornaeg didn't fire on 'nelde'. He fired when Edren made his move."

There was a silent moment, during which Legolas didn't seem to even breathe. He just kept staring at Aragorn, as though the human had gone mad, and then his eyes fell away, focusing on the floor, and it was clear he trusted his friend. In a horribly cold way, he trusted him.

"It was…all just so he could attack me in still another way," he said emptily. "He killed Edren on- on purpose. He knew he'd try and save me if he could. He meant to kill Edren all along, and I just…just let it happen." And here he'd thought Edren's death couldn't hurt him more than it did…

"I'm sorry, Legolas," Aragorn shook his head, not bothering to address the fact that Legolas couldn't have prevented that. He knew it all ready anyway, it was just so much easier for him to make it his fault. That, at least, made sense.

"I really wish I could have known him better," the human said quietly. "He was the very best a friend could be, that I know, Legolas. Better than I could ever be to you."

Legolas didn't say anything, but simply put a hand on his friend's shoulder, not looking at him, but squeezing warmly to say more than he could have in words. And then he let go, unwilling to talk about it anymore.

His eyes shone with a counterfeit cheerfulness that is brought on by sudden change of a sullen subject. "So- where did you ever acquire that, Estel?"

"What?"

Legolas gestured to the knife.

"Oh," Aragorn shrugged innocently, "I took it."

"In the midst of a mob of orcs?" Legolas challenged skeptically.

"I'm good at it."

"How's that?"

"Well, I'd tell you Legolas, but I would probably have to kill you."

Aragorn's face was so needlessly serious, it made Legolas laugh, but then he stopped, because it hurt his lip. The human couldn't help his own grin, and went to see about getting the now blood-stained cloth a little more wet.

"How about you, Estel? What have you been up to, exactly?"

Aragorn explained about the Bengwiil and the orcs, and then finally, the strange person he was going to meet up with in about ten minutes.

Legolas seemed rather unsurprised that Mornaeg was growing Bengwiil. "I said he had gone mad," he had pointed out quietly, but it was clear the fact that there was just so much Bengwiil growing not five seconds' running away from him was unnerving to the prince.

At last, there was a loud groaning, and dousing the torch, the two friends faced Brog and Gamdag, and were split up to their separate destinations once more.

Needless to say, Aragorn was much more worried for Legolas than Legolas for him, as they started parting ways. _Please be strong, _was all he could convey with his eyes, when Legolas was shoved up the ladder leading to Mornaeg's room. _Because if you can hang on, I can help repair the damage later…but you have to hold on first, Legolas. You've got to._

Aragorn made no protest to being shoved and pushed all the way back to the clearing. But instead of walking into the "Bengwiil Tent" he was jostled past it a ways to what appeared to be a large, log corral.

The minute he reached the fence's gate, he was shoved inside so hard, that he fell flat forward, and had to scramble to his feet to avoid getting stepped on. His head ached, but he suspected that had more to do with Bengwiil than the fall.

Hastily, he darted across the wooden corral, and braced his back against the far wall, as other orcs and the three elves were shoved inside.

Orcs?

It was then that it dawned on Aragorn that some of the orcs weren't doing guard duty; they were being shoved in with the elves, and then, locked in. The orcs on the outside of the corral, surrounded the fences, hauling themselves onto the logs, to keep anyone from climbing over, and started jeering at the orcs inside.

Aragorn saw how the system worked the instant the orcs started throwing moldy bread at the prisoners. There was a barrel of spring water in the center of the enclosure to drink from, and the captives had to scrounge what bread they could that was being thrown at them. Aragorn noticed the elves didn't move around much, but kept to any side lacking in orcs. Harder to be targeted with moldy bread, that way.

Aragorn wasn't very hungry either, which was handy, because he wasn't particularly interested in getting food thrown at him. As it was, the orcs climbing onto the logs behind him were started to pelt him with crumbs.

"It makes them more powerful-feeling. Keeps the peace."

Aragorn couldn't help but jump, and then felt silly as he realized it was that "secret friend" yet again.

"Easy, now, don't keel over…" the voice jibed with a chuckle.

"What makes who more powerful-feeling?" Aragorn asked over his shoulder, still not looking at the other person.

"Keeping some of the trouble-maker orcs prisoner with the rest of us. It makes the other orcs feel powerful, as well as make an example out of the trouble-makers. That villain elf sure is a smart one. It all works very smoothly, and his Bengwiil gets planted."

"Do I get to figure out who you are, now?" Aragorn asked quietly.

"Of course, but- well, you'll have to do something first."

"What?"

"Turn around. Can't see me otherwise."

Aragorn rolled his eyes, and turned. His eyes widened. "You're-"

"A dwarf?"

"Well- yes," he replied stupidly. "Usually dwarves stand out a mile away." Aragorn's eyes slid up and down the creature before him. Typical dwarven height, as well as the same sort of apparel. "You're voice is sort of higher than a dwarf's," he pointed out, almost in defense.

The dwarf shrugged his stubby shoulders, and then poked Aragorn in the chest with a short finger. "Well, you're hair is sort of scragglier than a human's, don't you think?"

"No," Aragorn replied easily, and then smiled. "So what do I call you?"

"Anorc," the dwarf responded without missing a beat.

"Anorc? It doesn't sound dwarven to me," Aragorn mused.

"It's not," Anorc replied. "My real name is Pinwen. But if you call me Anorc, you can tell the truth about me later. So what's your name again?"

"Estel."

"Estel! That's right, I remember. Good to see you again!"

"A- again?" Aragorn felt silly for asking, but his visitations with dwarves were limited, and he was pretty sure he'd remember a dwarf like this one. "Have we met?"

Anorc looked offended. "Have we- yes we've met! Remember?" And to Aragorn's surprise, the dwarf began to sing. "The Road goes ever on and on, out of the door where it STARTED!" His voice was loud and piercing, and his key was way off. Plus it seemed that he didn't know the lyrics. Despite this, Aragorn was intrigued.

"Now up ahead the Road is disappeared, and I will follow it if I can! The Road goes-"

"Anorc, what do you mean?" Aragorn asked quickly before the dwarf launched into the next line.

"We sang that song in the Û ndu Tunnel!"

"We?"

"You, me, your friend the elf, my brother, and all the other dwarves in Gabil Gûndu!"

"Gabil Gûndu!" Aragorn's mind sparked. _I must be getting tired, that I didn't think of that, _he marveled silently to himself. "Anorc, you are from Gabil Gûndu?"

"Yes!" To Aragorn's increasing surprise, the dwarf lurched forward and gave the human a squeeze around the middle. "You remember me!"

"I- I had-" Aragorn managed to pull the smaller being off of him, and then with a slight smile, continued, "So you were there that night we sang in the tunnel? When we went to Bodruith?"

A sound like a growl came from Anorc's throat. "Bodruith. Oh, we took care of his trouble. And we're- we're reforming a little bit every day, now. Everything in Gabil Gûndu is changed, Estel, everything!"

"Well, I'm glad to hear it, Anorc. Are- are the Light Stairs still there, or have you-"

"Oh, they're still there all right," Anroc nodded. "We've told the tale of how you and your friend walked the Light Stairs of Gabil Gûndu, and were never seen again, ten times over! Now, of course, that dramatic ending will have to change, but it's worth it to meet you again!"

Aragorn laughed, and shook his head in wonder. "Well, of all the people I'd expected to meet today, it wasn't you."

Anorc beamed, and then went almost serious again. "I guess I shall have to ask about you. You're not here on purpose, are you?"

Once again, Aragorn was perplexed. "On- purpose?" he asked incredulously. "No, very much not, why?"

"Oh, well I just wondered. I am."

"You're- here on purpose?"

"Yes!" Anorc proclaimed proudly. "I'm here to-" he dropped his voice lower, and leaned on tiptoe towards Aragorn's ear. "I'm here to sabotage the Bengwiil growing. The orcs think I'm mad, which helps a great deal."

To prove his point, Anorc swung his head off to the side, slapping eye-contact on a nearby orc. He smiled stupidly, and flitted a few fingers in hello. The orc glared daggers back, and then continued to munch on the moldy bread he was clutching. Anorc grinned, and swerved back around to Aragorn, as the same piece of moldy bread was heaved at his head. "I'm also here to monitor the prisoners, in case anyone needs to leave especially. Do you?"

Aragorn still felt lost. "Who are you working for, Anorc?"

"Umn…" the dwarf hummed aimlessly for a moment, then shrugged. "Doesn't exactly matter. The point is, if you and your friend need to get out, I can help. It'll be hard, because I'm in a pit, and you are under the evil elf's tree, but I think we can manage. Do you need to leave?"

Aragorn only nodded blankly. "Well, yes. Yes we do."

"How badly?"

"Well, I'm ill currently, and getting just a bit worse all the time," Aragorn admitted quickly, then added, "and my friend, Legolas, keeps being dragged to Mornaeg's room. He's- he can't take much more of that, Anorc. He's holding now, but I know he can't keep it up."

Anorc nodded, and jerked on Aragorn's coat in confidentiality. "I'll see what I can do."

And with that, the short being danced wildly off to one of the log-walls, yelling, "That's what I get for conversating with a dirty old HUMAN, hm?" He leaned almost drunkenly against the wall, blearily running his eyes up and down Aragorn's form, and then swung his head back to look up at the orc leaning on the wall above him. "Stupid things, humans, don't you think, Glorwalk? Though, you probably know all about stupidity, don't you- can I call you Wallrack?"

The orc, who Aragorn assumed probably wasn't Glorwalk or Wallrack, chucked a piece of hard bread at Anorc's head, which bounced off, and hit the damp ground dull thud.

"Skai-búbhosh, sharkû ash…" the orc muttered, while Anorc stared curiously at the sky, as though he thought it was raining stale bread.

Aragorn couldn't help but think Anorc was partially putting on the act to show off his reputation to the human. Aragorn found it rather humorous, just how enamored with him the dwarf seemed to be.

Now, he just needed to find his own way to blend. He tried to look uninteresting as he crossed to the other side of the corral, feigning a look of unarguable defeat. Slowly, he began making his way to the two elves, who were standing off to the side, avoiding the orcs and the food as well as the water barrel in the middle.

Unfortunately, Aragorn never reached them. It was difficult as it was wading through the food-fight going on between the orcs (who had started soaking stale bread in dirty water, and throwing it at the orcs outside the coral) as well as the general commotion of having so many people in such a close space. But just as he reached the right side of the cage, a horn sounded, and he was being shoved and prodded out the gate again.

"Good luck, Estel!" he heard a voice mutter from somewhere by his waist, though when he looked down, Anorc was all ready gone.

_I don't need luck, _Aragorn couldn't help thinking, as the group went blindly on to the Bengwiil canopy again. _And, Valar, I hope Legolas doesn't either._


	5. Dear Legolas

**Chapter 5**

**"Dear Legolas"**

"Four words, prince. Just four simple words! I. Love. You. Too. See? Easy."

Legolas lay still and silent, still curled in on himself, protecting his body as best he could from the merciless abuse.

"You can do it, Lindo," Mornaeg insisted coaxingly, and undercurrent of malicious delight easily detectable. "Say: 'I love you too, Tiro-Lim'."

Legolas hated himself all ready.

Mornaeg had so far gotten him to say 'mellon-nin', 'seas dartho' and 'ea Lindo im'.

/my friend , please stop , I am Lindo/

He was breaking down the prince's defenses one at a time, and Legolas knew it. This was a particularly low blow, though. _I love you too? _Legolas couldn't do it. He couldn't! Had it been the sentence alone, he was sure his pride would have crumbled yet again, and he'd have said it. But it wasn't just that. Those words were not only words. They were the last words Legolas had spoken to Edren, and they were for Edren alone. Not his murderer.

Legolas gasped hoarsely as a metal-plated boot made harsh contact with his chest yet again. "Say it, Lindo, I'm getting tired of waiting, you know."

Legolas stared blearily up in the direction he was pretty sure Mornaeg was standing, before ducking his head tight against the floor, and shaking it quickly. "No," he whispered, "I'll not give those precious words to you, um-pen." And he hugged himself tighter, waiting for the impact. It didn't come.

/evil one./

"He was ready, you know."

Leoglas' eyes opened, though he kept staring across the floor. "Who?"

"Arasen. He was ready to tell you everything, if he'd only had the chance."

Legolas looked up at the elf towering over him, and realized he must have gone to the wooden chest at some point. He was holding a leather-bound book in his hand, his eyes sparkling with impending victory. "There's maybe five or six more in the chest," Mornaeg continued, as he walked aimlessly towards the window, cracking the book open, and beginning to read aloud.

"Dear Legolas, today we walked and played in the woods together. You saw a tree, and froze still, saying you recognized it. I said it was our favorite climbing tree, but that wasn't true. It was Bioren's tree, Legolas, the one he so loved to-" Mornaeg's voice cut for a moment of what could only be translated as sadness. But when he turned to face Legolas again, all trace of it was gone. He was smirking.

"He wrote letters to you, Legolas, letters to fill you in on your lifetime, if ever he turned around and told you the truth. He was ready to make it right all along." Mornaeg's smirk widened to a smile. "And yet again you chose your selfish pain over apologizing to him for what you said."

_How does he know that? _was the first question in Legolas' head, quickly erased by a stronger emotion which escaped his throat in a whisper. "It's all there?"

"All of it!" Mornaeg sang, closing the book with a jubilant smack, and turning to the chest to retrieve two more. Opening the one on top, he read, "Dear Legolas, You had another nightmare tonight, and I held you all night long. I don't think either one of us slept at all."

"Don't," Legolas murmured, shaking his head. "I don't- I don't want to hear it, Mornaeg."

Mornaeg froze a second, and then snapped the book shut smilingly. "Four words, Lindo."

Legolas' jaw set itself, and he closed his eyes tightly. _Here we go again…_

He could hear a new book being cracked open, and wished that his hands were not bound so he could cover his ears, as Mornaeg began to read again.

"Dear Legolas, I was looking over my account of the Worthy Heroes that I wrote for you, and I realized; I forgot to mention Suuleth! Your father was part of our games too, Legolas."

"Mornaeg-" Legolas sat up halfway, his eyes on fire. _What's wrong with you? What's the POINT of all this?_

"We called him 'Suuleth'," Mornaeg continued in a louder voice, "because he was 'the wind' in our games. The one that simply wafted in and out of the Worthy Heroes' world. He always gave us our new passwords too, so no one else could join the Heroes without it."

"Mornaeg, just-"

"Four words, Lindo, just four words…"

"I won't!" Legolas cried, sitting up the rest of the way. "I will not, I cannot, and I refuse to speak what is falsehood! Why can you not-"

"DEAR Legolas," -his volume rose another notch- "You were talking in your sleep about 'Naneth'. I hope through all my lies I never make you forget a thing about her, but it's hard, because she loved our little game, and I want so badly to leave those details in, but I can't."

"Mornaeg-"

"Dear Legolas! You laughed today, it was good to hear, mellon-nin."

"I won't say it!"

"Dear Legolas, I can't wait till you've forgotten everything, then maybe, someday, I'll tell it all to you."

"Edren- Meleth im hon!"

/Edren- I love him/

"I'll see that look in your eyes, my friend, and you'll be so surprised that I let you bury your pain, that you'll forgive me all my lies."

"Mornaeg!"

"And you'll hug me tight, I know it, Legolas, and then I can give you these journals."

"What do you want?"

"I want four words!" Mornaeg shouted almost gleefully, as he threw the journal over his shoulder, and cracked the last one open instead. "I want to hear them, Lindo, I want to hear them now."

"If I said them, I would not mean them, Mornaeg!" he spat. "You killed Edren, I cannot love you with my love for him, I won't, I am incapable of it!"

"You are incapable of loving me, my little friend?"

"Yes!" the word was out before he thought it over. It was such an obvious answer, really. Then why did the reply make Legolas' heart real so? His emotions staggered back a pace, as though to say: _but- Legolas, is that really true?_ And why shouldn't it be?

Silence ensued for a moment. All this time trying not to think about Edren seemed to make screaming about him Legolas hurt all the more. But Mornaeg didn't care, so why should he? What there had been of the friend in him seemed utterly gone, to Legolas. He couldn't make him care anymore.

"Dear Legolas," Morneag said, gracefully paging to the back of the book he held.

And "Mornaeg…" was all he could respond.

"Today I told you everything. The truth. I can't believe it. I don't need to recount it all to you, you know what happened after that. I'm sitting here on Thernad's and my guest-bed, trying to think of the thousands of excuses I've devised and just how I can write them so you'll believe them as I convinced myself to. But I don't want to make anymore excuses. I'm tired of them. I'm fed up with working around the truth, and so instead I want to say I'm sorry, Legolas. I am to blame for your hurt, for your confusion. I did little if anything to soothe your pain, really. I'm sorry for lying to you, my friend."

"_L-golas…I'm s-rry I lie- lied to you…there is no pe-eace in lies, Legolas, I- Suuleth was right I should have known that and- and peace is…ea-"_

Mornaeg's voice broke harshly into Legolas' memory of Edren's death. "Suuleth was right, Legolas. I should have known that he was right. Peace- real peace is only in truth. Ea er ranimar."

"Meleth le im, Edren," Legolas whispered, shutting his eyes again.

/I love you, Edren/

"I shouldn't have lied to you, and I cannot ask your forgiveness."

"U-moe edvad, Edren…"

/there is nothing to forgive, Edren…/

"You didn't laugh like I wished you could have. Pushed away, and been simply relieved to know what before you did not know. I so wish it was far enough behind you that you could see why I did it, but that is no excuse for me."

"Mornaeg-"

"Legolas, I hate myself."

"Mornaeg!"

"And I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry. Know that'd I'd do anything for you, my friend."

"Tiro-Lim!"

"I'd die for you, if that's what it would take to show how I always cared, Legolas, **I'd. die. for. you**."

"I love you, all right, I love you!"

Legolas felt sick. His body trembled from head to toe, and his head swam nauseatingly. He wasn't crying, yet something inside him was making his chest feel tight with one emotion or another, and causing his breath to shake with sobs all the same.

"I'm sorry, Lindo. What did you say…?" Mornaeg's voice was predictably malicious, but the expectancy of it didn't take away any of the sting at hearing it.

Legolas' breath hitched. "I love you too, Tiro-Lim," he whispered, shutting his eyes tightly. "If that's really what you want to hear…but I-" his eyes slid open again, allowing Mornaeg to look into his glance's silver fire. "I love Edren, really. Edren and Estel they- they are actually my friends Mornaeg, my life-time friends. They've never turned on me, unlike you. And you can't fix that."

"Friends, hm?" Mornaeg mused, sitting down on the floor beside the prince, and cupping his hands around his knees in a ridiculously childish fashion. "Tell me, Legolas, do you recall when I was your friend?

"Yes, Mornaeg, I do. But you are he no longer. You've become a monster you cannot control, and you know it." Legolas shook his head, fixing the elf with a quiet, almost pitying stare.

"I don't know what has driven you so far over the edge that you do these things to me, but I cannot hold but contempt for you now. You've destroyed something dear to me yet again, and this time he cannot return. You failed to steal Estel and so you take Edren away forever." Legolas' voice wavered on the verge of steadiness, as he concluded quietly, "Even if you asked for forgiveness of me, I disgrace myself that I could not give it to you. And I show my character lacking desperately, that I cannot love you anymore."

Mornaeg's jaw was tight, as for the longest moment, his unnaturally green eyes stared deep into Legolas' gaze. It felt to the prince as though he'd left a window wide open, and in so doing, allowed a robber to enter. But he did not close the window. He welcomed the intrusion. He had to prove something- to himself or Mornaeg.

"You try to steal from me, Mornaeg. But my treasure is not yours, and you therefore don't know what to take."

"You try to hide from me," Mornaeg retorted quietly. "Hide in your own fear, that I might leave you alone, and you therefore make a grave mistake." He did not smile at his playful rhyme, but gazed back harshly. "Because I don't take pity on you anymore, Lindo. You are not a little, innocent child, you are a warrior. One who has killed. Killed my beloved."

"I did not kill your brother-"

"LIAR!" Mornaeg screamed, jumping off the floor, and standing before Legolas like a great tower. "You lie to me, Lindo, you- killed Minaeg, and I know you did, I know it, you know it!"

"I-" Legolas said numbly, as Mornaeg's abrupt gestures and jarringly-loud shouts blurred in his vision. He was wearing down all ready? Legolas found himself wishing that he and Aragorn both had rested, when they'd had a chance. His fatigue was making everything turn hazy.

"Mornaeg, I swear I-"

"No. No! You can make no promise to me, Lindo, not anymore. Sa-" Mornaeg's eyes flashed, as though an idea occurred to him. "Say it!"

"Say what." Legolas demanded coldly.

Mornaeg stooped down, gripping the prince's chin tightly between his thumb and forefinger. "Say you killed Minaeg."

Legolas was helpless to do anything but stare back at the swirling green of rage in the other's eyes, as his mind worked furiously. _They're just words, Legolas. Just say what he wants!_

_No…_ Leoglas' heart fought back. _No, they're NOT just words! To him, I mean them. To his crazed sense, my words will be true, and I-_

_What about Aragorn? _his mind demanded. _Is he worth that?_

_Aragorn would not have me lie. I haven't come this far to give in now- I can't say it, I won't say it! It's not true- _"No."

"What…?"

"N…no, Mornaeg, I didn't kill Minaeg." Legolas' throat was all ready trembling, making his words shaky. _Now what? What's next? Make the next second come and go quickly, _Legolas pleaded inwardly.

Mornaeg straitened up slowly. "You lie to me again, Lindo."

And Legolas suddenly doubled over, as a metal-plated kick landed unexpectedly in his stomach.

Aragorn shoved yet another root into his coat pocket, placing the now-doomed plant back into the ground. It was becoming smoother all the time, his slicing and hiding of the roots. He couldn't help glancing nervously down the row he'd done earlier that day, however…the baby plants were all ready turning wilty.

Wouldn't Mornaeg seek out the culprit, when he found out someone was killing his plants? Aragorn couldn't be afraid for himself, he was in too stressful a predicament to put up with it. But what if Mornaeg split him and Legolas up? What would become of his friend, with no one there to repair the damage?

Aragorn found himself shoving back the determined waves of nausea once more, for his friend's sake. He was feeling sicker and sicker, getting more and more fatigued by the second, true, but how could he give up on Legolas like that? Who else was there for the elf to lean on? No one.

Still, he knew he couldn't hold out this way long, his body wouldn't permit it, and he wished yet again that Anorc would come back. But the dwarf, it seemed, had disappeared. Aragorn wasn't sure how he did it, but he was certainly nowhere in the Bengwiil tent anymore.

The human inhaled deeply, wishing that the air were a little clearer. This green-tinged moist he was breathing in constantly seemed to make his head spin quicker. Even now, his eyes were dancing aimlessly in front of him without his go-ahead. His body wasn't taking very many commands from him, not even the emotionally-stirring insistence, _hold on for Legolas, if nothing else!_

His mind was taking his resolve away without asking his heart first. It was all Bengwiil's doing, all of it, and he was sick of it. So SICK of it!…but he was also tired of fighting it.

Yet he continued to pick, slice and transplant the baby Bengwiil, even as his head began to spin so fast that he couldn't see very well anymore. Something told him if he lost his momentum now, he'd never get started again. He couldn't afford the complications of sickness!

His head reeled, as he forced himself to keep working. Every color came into sharp contrast, and then seemed to switch to black and white only. He found himself panting hard, and trying to think straight yet again.

"Legolas," Aragorn called in a whisper, as though he thought his friend would hear him. "Legolas, where are you…"

The human tumbled to the side, landing in the loose dirt. His body had been trembling for so long, it had gotten tired of holding him up. His eyes flicked back and forth over the sky above him aimlessly, as his skin burned with the heavy fever. Numbly, he rocked back and forth on the ground while his limp fingers tugged the heavy overcoat off of him.

Cool air rippled his sweat-soaked shirt for a moment, and he closed his eyes in relief. But as a drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead and then behind his ear, his body convulsed in rejection of the temperature around him.

Aragorn's eyes shut, and he panted quietly, as he blindly pulled his overcoat to him again, and draped it over his shivering shoulders. How could his skin burn so unbearably hot, but his body feel so cold?

As he lay there, shivering to fend the cold, panting to fight the heat, Aragorn realized just how deeply hurtful Bengwiil had become to him. He wasn't fighting the poison anymore, the poison was making him fight himself.

His resolve was fighting his fear, his mind fighting his heart, and now it seemed even his own body was at war with itself.

Weakly, he dragged the coat off of him again, trying to make his chest and arms cool down, and then abruptly pulled it back over, as his breath rasped into him at the shock of cold. His arms and his forehead felt as though they were on fire, and yet his shoulders shook with cold, and his fingers felt like ice.

The sky above him was gray, and the trees touching it twisted and swayed, turning from lush green to scraggly black. Dead trees in a dead world. Everything was living dead, burning cold. A frighteningly contradictory world.

"Legolas…" he whispered again, closing his eyes, and trying to see his friend's face in the dark. "I c-can't keep doing this…where…I n-eed you, Legolas. I need you- t-to come help me." He clenched his vibrating jaw tight for a second, and then added between chattering teeth, "Please."

"Come on you, get up!" A rough hand tugged the overcoat away, and hauled Aragorn up by the shirt-front. The human was afraid to open his eyes, but blearily, he did, and saw two large orcs on either side of him; one tugging him forward by his shirt, the other grabbing him by his sweaty hair.

"What's wrong?" Aragorn murmured feverishly, as he numbly felt his wrists being tied behind him. "Where's Leoglas-" His words were cut off as he was shoved forward by a powerful hand, stumbling into the orc just in front of him.

Aragorn wasn't sure exactly what happened after that, but he dimly recalled being pushed over by the second orc, hitting the ground full-force, and then being jerked to his feet again.

"I n- need to see Legolas," he tried to whisper, as he was jostled roughly out of the Bengwiil tent. But neither orc answered him, and he was left to wonder instead, as the two beasts shoved him towards their unknown destination by his still-shaking shoulders.

Legolas landed hard for the umpteenth time, catching himself on his wrists. He inhaled sharply, his chest and stomach aching in protest as he did. Mornaeg had drawn no weapon the whole while, but kicked, thrown and hit the prince all over the room for several everlasting minutes.

"I'll have those words from you, Lindo, if you die in the process," Mornaeg told him in mock-tenderness. "Say you did it. Say, 'I killed Minaeg'. Is it really worthy dying not to tell me the truth?"

"It would not be the truth," Legolas objected hoarsely, "it would only be what you want to hear!"

"I demand the truth!" Mornaeg shouted, his act falling away as he lunged towards Legoals.

"Then I did not-" Legolas rolled over twice, once with the impact of Mornaeg's kick, once to avoid a second one. But the second kick came anyway, landing directly in the small of his back.

Legolas' body arched, and he choked in pain, twisting his wrists unwittingly, in desperation to get away. He coughed, and saw blood hit the floor in front of him in a small pool surrounded by even smaller dots. The red circles danced in his vision, inverting into black-blue and then back again. His head spun crazily, and his body complained loudly as he tried to rise to his hands and knees again.

Mornaeg's boot caught him in the stomach once more, forcing him to the floor, where he lay still. The elf came to stand over his fallen pray, his green eyes glittering with both victory and malice. "The truth, Lindo. Now."

"I could easily say what you want to hear, but it would not be true!" Legolas gasped, spitting crimson from his bleeding gums, over which a second split lip rested. "I did not kill your brother, I did all I could for Minaeg, I told you he was dying, and you did not come!" he cried, wiping his mouth with the rope binding his wrists. "_Sen_ na thenin, _this_ is truth!"

Something in Mornaeg's eyes backed up a step for just the briefest second. It seemed every once in awhile, Legolas would see a spark of misgiving behind the elf's evil, that shone and then went out like a candle, as it did now. It made Legolas honestly wonder what was going on in Mornaeg's head these days.

"Well, I cannot seem to beat the truth out of you," Mornaeg admitted, backing away from Legolas abruptly, and turning to speak to the two orcs in the doorway instead. "Get it now, saes." They nodded, and left.

"Mornaeg-" Legolas murmured, trying not to think what 'it' was, and how Mornaeg would torture the 'truth' out of him now. "Please, I don't understand why you do this to me. I don't understand- why you hurt Aragorn with Minaeg's wounds. I just-"

"You killed Minaeg, and your human friend was the only way I could show you just how much you hurt me through your foolish actions, Lindo," Mornaeg interrupted smoothly. "I'm disappointed you didn't learn that lesson."

"I-" Legolas forced himself into a kneeling position, despite his body's screaming. "If I did anything to you, if you honestly believe I've done you wrong, then I- I ask your forgiveness. Morneag?" He tried to make eye-contact with his former-friend, but the elf determinedly kept his eyes away from the prince.

"I can never forgive you the pain you've caused me, Lindo, never. Y-you took what meant the most to me, and what's more, you will not take the blame! So I'll force upon you that blame, I'll have you hurt for this hurt, and I shall never, never, NEVER forgive you, do you understand!"

"I will not admit to something I did not do!" the prince screamed in answer, and then ducked to shield himself from the blow Mornaeg's fist was raising.

But it didn't come.

The room's door banged open, and both elves looked up to see the orcs standing in the doorway with the 'it' Mornaeg had them fetch braced between them. Legolas' breath plummeted. Aragorn.

Mornaeg tugged his knife from his belt, and motioned the two orcs over to him. "I know you'll selflessly endure anything for your friend, but how much will you have him endure for you, Lindo?" Mornaeg asked conversationally, as the orcs forced Aragorn to his knees, grabbing him by the shoulders, arms and hair.

The human's face was sweaty and pale, and his frightened eyes roved over the room around him feverishly.

"Mornaeg no wait-" Legolas chocked, the words coming stunned from his throat, as his heart froze in his chest. _Valar, no, no, not this time, not again, I won't let it happen again!_

"I want to hear those words, Lindo, admit to what is your fault." Mornaeg raised his knife, and pressed it against Aragorn's throat. The human's breath rasped in and out of his mouth, and he choked as the metal touched his skin.

"Legolas…" he whispered, his eyes searching the ceiling for his friend. "Don't…don't do it, I…be fine. Just sick…"

Legolas shook his head in anguish. The human had no idea what was at steak. Legolas wasn't even certain where his friend's mind was right now. "Estel-"

"I'll give you to nelde," Mornaeg said. "Er…"

"Wait-" Legolas was on his feet, staggering towards the human as far as his tether would allow.

"Atta…"

"I killed Minaeg!"

The room rang for a second. It wasn't the words that made Legolas' heart wrench, it was the look of triumph on Mornaeg's face, and the way Aragorn closed his eyes in regret.

"What?" Mornaeg pressed, his green eyes glowing.

"I killed Minaeg," Legolas repeated without hesitation.

"Louder, Lindo."

"I killed Minaeg!"

"Say-" the elf's mind probed furiously. "Say you're glad you killed him!"

"What…?"

Mornaeg's eyes flashed, and he reached behind Aragorn, slicing the human's bonds, and pulled one of his hands out from behind him. Aragorn started, but the orcs on either side of him, pinned his arms back, as Mornaeg's knife-point pressed against the human's unprotected wrist.

"I'm glad I killed him!" Legolas cried, riddled with fear. Aragorn was so vulnerable, so sick, so near to danger…and Legolas couldn't even protect him. It was nothing short of nightmarish. Legolas felt as though he were trying to dangle gold over a cliff with only a piece of thread. Moving gently, afraid of losing what was dear, and yet so afraid, it was hard to be gentle. And the gold was getting heavier by the second.

"Say you'd do it again if you could!" Mornaeg shouted, smacking Aragorn's side with his knee in emphasis, and causing the human to attempt to double over, only to be yanked back upright by the orcs.

"I'd do it again if I could, Mornaeg, all right? I killed him, all right, please ju-" Legolas throat closed in an overflow of emotion he could not control. "Just let him go, please."

Mornaeg's grip tightened on Aragorn's wrist. "You will know the pain I feel, Lindo," he whispered, running his knife tauntingly over Aragorn's throat. "I want you to tell me- that you killed Edren." His eyes met Legolas', and the silver gaze looking back at him was desolate.

"No…" Legolas whispered, before he could stop himself.

Aragorn's scream of pain reached Legolas' awareness, before the sight of blood did. Mornaeg's knife had ripped in a lightening move across the human's wrist, splitting three major blood veins, and sending a crimson trickle cascading down Aragorn's arm.

"Ilúvatar faeles! Mornaeg, your fight is with me!" Legolas cried, panic forcing a tear down his face.

/Ilúvatar's mercy/

"Say it, Lindo!" Mornaeg cried, pulling Aragorn's bleeding wrist further up, putting his knife against it again. The human was gasping, his eyes shut.

In the second of silence, Legolas could hear Aragorn whispering desperately, his voice fogged by pain and fever…"Legolas…gwend al-car- car rinc na gwaew…pl-plea…please don't cry…"

/friendship does not- not waver at a wind…/

Legolas couldn't bear it. He didn't know whether the human was speaking to him, or was lost in that distant memory when the prince had first told Aragorn those elven words of comfort. Either way…he wasn't ready.

Edren, forgive me…I can't let Tiro-Lim hurt Estel, just as you did not let him hurt me.

"Say it!"

"I-I killed Edren," Legolas stuttered, before he could think.

"What…?" Mornaeg insisted tauntingly.

"I- I killed…" the sound of a sob caught in Legolas' throat, when he realized what he said.

"Louder, Lindo!"

"I-" he tried again, shaking his head, and moving unsteadily from one foot to the other. The room started to spin…

"Louder!" Mornaeg shouted, tugging on Aragorn's blood-stained arm, and making the human cry out. "Louder, Lindo, lou-"

"I KILLED EDREN!" the prince cried, slipping to his knees as bodily and emotional fatigue finally wrapped around him.

"And you're glad."

"I'm glad," Legolas repeated quietly.

"He did everything for you, and you betrayed him by your own weakness," Mornaeg shot back.

"H-he did everything for me…I betrayed him," was all Legoals could reply.

"He would never forgive you for it."

"Yes."

"You hate him."

"No," he whispered, more to himself than Mornaeg.

The knife raked across Aragorn's all ready bleeding wrist a second time, in the same place. The human gasped in pain, whispering "Saes, mellon-nin…" and Legolas' heart nearly tore in two.

"MORNAEG, NO! Please, please- _please_ leave him alone!" he begged. "He can't-"

"SAY it, Lindo!"

"You'll kill 'im!" Legolas sobbed. "y-you'll k-"

"Now!"

"I-"

"Lindo…"

"I hate him!"

"Who!" Mornaeg insisted, pulling on Aragorn's arm, and making the human sob raggedly, as his tired body slackened all-the-more in the orcs' grasp.

"EDREN!" Legolas screamed. "I hate Edren, I killed him, and I'm glad! Is that what you want?" His chest heaved as the words came spilling from between his split lips. "I killed him, I didn't kill him, what does it matter? He's DEAD! I hate him or I love him! What difference does it make! He'll never hear me say either one! He left! He left me with a life-debt he gave up everything for me, and I never even- I never got the chance t-I-I hate him for it- I…I hate him I hate him I HATE him I-…"

There was a second of a silence.

A moment of still.

And then Legolas whispered, "oh Valar…" and covered his face with his shaking hands.

His words stung more than a hundred of Mornaeg's. His own desperation had driven him beyond what even Mornaeg had said to say. Beyond to things he didn't want to say, but what he knew were in his own heart. The same disease that attacked Mornaeg's heart; sorrow turned to bitterness.

It hurt, it hurt so badly. He felt tears forming in his throat again, and his chest ached to keep them from reaching the surface.

At that moment, his hands were pulled roughly away from his face, and he found Mornaeg untying the two ropes from his wrists. Avoiding eye-contact with the former-friend, Legolas crawled immediately to Aragorn, knowing at the back of his drained mind that it was the only important thing he could do.

Upon his approach, the orcs let go of the human, who knelt for just a second, and then toppled over, where Legolas caught him. The elf wrapped his arms protectively around Aragorn, and felt the human's body shudder feverishly. His heart seemed to break all over again, dragging every emotion down with it, and leaving only pain, regret, fault…

He tore a piece of fabric from his tunic, and hastily tied it tightly around the human's torn wrist to staunch the bleeding, wishing for the healing of Lord Elrond, like a child wishes for the adult who makes everything better.

"Legolas…" Aragorn whispered, his uninjured hand reaching gingerly up to the elf's shoulder. "I'm sorry I…I-I'm getting in the way again."

No you're not…Don't listen to Mornaeg…I said those words, but they're not true, we both know that…Don't worry about it, Estel…Shh…

Any one of these would have come naturally, but Legolas couldn't make himself say anything. Because yes, Aragorn had gotten in the way. Legolas couldn't let his friend be hurt, so he'd given a victory over to Mornaeg instead. The difference was, it wasn't Aragorn's fault.

"You try to steal from me, Mornaeg. But my treasure is not yours, and you therefore don't know what to take."

But Mornaeg did know what to take. If he took Aragorn, he knew full-well that it would break Legolas completely. And if his eventual plan was to make Legolas regret 'killing Minaeg', to make him feel the same pain…Aragorn would surely be killed, sooner or later.

Legolas pulled Aragorn's trembling body tightly against his own, as though to keep someone from stealing the human away. The prince couldn't help the tears forming in his eyes anymore, and as Aragorn wavered halfway out of consciousness, he realized he'd lost all will to hold the salty tide back.

"I can't keep losing you like this, Aragorn, I can't do it…" he cried, and pressed his sweating forehead against Aragorn's cold one.

"I was wrong, Lindo," Mornaeg's voice crooned from somewhere above the two friends. "You are just a child still."

But Legolas didn't look up.

"Take them to their room, mellyn-nin." He threw down the sack he'd apparently packed Edren's journals into. They hit the floor with a sickening thud that made Legolas flinch.

Mornaeg smiled. "And take that with you, Lindo. A present from a friend in the Great Halls."


	6. Agarned EruiOnnen

**Chapter 6**

**Agarned Erui-Onnen**

"Lean against me, lean against me Estel," Legolas instructed quickly, as the human nearly toppled forward.

They were in their 'room' again; Legolas had thrown the back of journals into his travel-pack, and only just managed to light their torch, casting a sudden orange glow on the dirt walls and ceiling.

"I've got you," he reassured, pulling the human's limp body closer. Aragorn was conscious, barely, but that only seemed to make the situation worse. His eyes were glazed with pain, and as he finally leaned his full weight on the elf behind him, he shuddered with feverish cold.

"I can't see very well, Legolas." His whisper was barely more than a breath.

"It's dark," Legolas soothed, his eyes flitting around the room for a strategy. "I- I can't see very well either."

"Liar," Aragorn smiled gently.

Legolas lowered the human into his lap, his eyes darting from his friend's blue gaze, to his bleeding wrist, and then back again, now more worried. "It's all ready soaked through the bandage," he said as easily as he could, ripping a second strip from his tunic and tying it tightly over top of the first, blood-stained one.

"Legolas," Aragorn spoke gently, his uninjured hand grasping the elf's busy one. "Ada told me that in an elf, major wounds heal quickly. That elven blood can heal the most dire injuries, but- I'm a human, mellon-nin, and there-" he picked his wrist gingerly up with his other hand. A red-and-green pool of Bengwiil-poisoned blood had all ready soaked through the second bandage Legolas had used.

"Mornaeg's smart, I guess, cause…see, there are several primary blood veins in the wrist, and if a human is cut there…" The human's fingers moved to his injured wrist, trying to inspect the wound himself, but being unable to do so in his state. His glassy eyes fixed vaguely on where Legolas' face probably was. "If humans get slit in the wrist, they can bleed to death. And- and Legolas, I'm all ready sick as it is, because of Bengwiil and because of fatigue, and I-"

Legolas had been shaking his head almost the whole time, and now he put his fingers over Aragorn's mouth. "No," he interrupted quickly. "No, Aragorn, I'm not giving up. You're not going to die."

Legolas was surprised to find his voice so calm. He knew that deep down, he was scared to death that his friend would die again. It seemed such an easy possibility these days. But some other voice in the back of his head was stronger. _You're not going to lose him, Legolas. Not unless you give up again._

Maybe he was just sick of taking 'death' as an answer.

"Estel, do you still have that knife?" Aragorn nodded, and struggled to reach for his boot.

"No, no," Legolas said quickly, gently touching Aragorn's hand back to its place on his chest. "I'll get it."

"What are you thinking, Legolas?" Aragorn asked uneasily, as he felt the knife being slipped from his boot.

Legolas didn't reply at first, but sat, perfectly still, the knife in one hand, Aragorn's bleeding wrist in the other. He paused just a moment, then he seemed suddenly resolved, and took the knife to Aragorn's bandages, slicing both of them away. He couldn't help a shudder that snaked down his spine, at seeing the tattered skin surrounding the wound on Aragorn's wrist.

"Legolas, what are you doing?" Aragorn demanded quietly, his injured hand trembling as the cold air touched it.

Legolas tried to think how to reply. He hated keeping his all ready confused friend in the dark, but…well, Aragorn would never agree if he knew.

So without explanation, and only resolve driving him, Legolas pressed the knife to his right palm, hesitated, and then struck. It was a nice, clean cut, straight from between his pointer and middle finger, to the edge of his hand. A thin line of red.

"Legolas!" Aragorn cried, more out of surprise than fear. "What are-"

"Sh…" Legolas assured, ignoring his burning hand. "Just hold still, Estel, edren-nin."

/trust me/

Legolas pressed the bleeding line across his hand to the slit over Aragorn's wrist, fitting the two lines together perfectly. His fingers wrapped tightly around to the back of the human's hand, pulling his palm firmly against the slit wrist. Then, with his other hand, he grabbed his own wrist, pressing on the blue lines that represented his primary blood veins, and forcing extra blood from his split palm.

Even in his feverish state, Aragorn knew quite vividly what his friend was doing for him. Literally giving his blood for Aragorn's life. The human could not be scared for his friend, he knew that Legolas could lose gallons of blood and still survive. But he didn't know how to treat the immense gratitude he suddenly felt.

Whether it worked or not, Legolas was fully determined to save his life.

Slowly, the man began to feel elven blood running with an odd warmth down his own bloodstream. His arm shook violently as his system reacted to the alien substance, sending chemicals to investigate.

"Agarned erui-onnen…" Legolas whispered, his voice commanding. "Neste echil-sen."

/blood of the First-Born…' 'heal this human.'/

Long moments that could not be counted were spent this way. Legolas never once let go of Aragorn's wrist, and the human was made to settle with keeping still, and thanking his friend in heart only, afraid of breaking his concentration with speech.

After a long while, Aragorn could feel his fever cooling slightly, and his arm stopped vibrating as hard. He felt strangely relaxed, and let his head loll to the side on Legolas' knee. His breath came slower and slower…his right eye kept crossing towards his left, making everything blur comfortably, and his eyelids kept flickering up and down, as though weighted by something.

It was then that the human realized, dimly, that Legolas was whispering something else now…

"Si-post. Quel kaima, mellon-nin. You shall awake tomorrow."

/now rest. sleep well, my friend./

And as Aragorn's mind stepped quietly from awareness, he could vaguely recall Legolas saying afterwards, "I…I'd give more than just my blood for you, Estel. Know that."

Maybe Legolas said it, maybe it was Aragorn's mind all ready beginning to dream. But either way, Aragorn had known it a long time ago, and neither Legolas nor any dreams had to tell him.

And though the prince was the only one to see it, in his sleep, Aragorn's head rocked to the side, and a faint look of determination was illuminated by the torchlight. As if to say, _So would I, Legolas. So would I…_

- - - - -

_tssick tssick tssick_

It took maybe ten minutes for Aragorn to realize his eyes were open. He could be staring at a dirt wall or the ceiling for all he knew, in this dark room with no differentiation between shadow and shape. He lifted his hand to brush the hair from his eyes…but his arm wouldn't move.

Aragorn bit back his sudden panic at feeling whole arm weighted down by something. _Chains?_ was the first urgent demand in his head. No, not chains. It wasn't metal. It was soft, warm…

All this went through Aragorn's head in a second, and then, the next second, all of it went away. Legolas' hand. The human reached to where his friend was still clinging dearly, even in sleep, to his wrist, and gently unwrapped the fingers.

Legolas' palm had healed nicely, leaving only a faint streak of white, where the scar hadn't gone quite yet. Aragorn then inspected his own hand. In the dark, he smiled. He could see a raised line of red and pink, as tough he'd been scratched once by thorns, but besides that…healed.

"Hannon le," he whispered, more sigh than words, as he gently closed Legolas' fingers over the prince's healing palm. Although, even 'thank you' in elvish didn't seem to express adequately what he really felt.

_tssick tssick tssick_

Aragorn turned towards the noise. Had he all ready heard it once? It sounded like fingernails scraping rock. Slowly, he crawled to the source of the sound…where was it? The ceiling? The floor? No. The wall!

No sooner had Aragorn realized this, than a section of rock, dirt and roots exploded from the wall. The human dove away from it, shielding his head with his arms, and froze for a second.

"Estel? Oh yes! I found you! Good, good, climb in, quick!"

Aragorn turned. "Anorc!" he cried, surprised and relieved. "How-"

The dwarf shook his head madly. "No, no, no time for that! Get in!"

"Estel, what's going-" Legolas crawled out of the dark to kneel beside Aragorn. "Who's your friend?" he asked quizzically, his keen eyes flicking up and down the dirty figure of Anorc.

"The one I was going to meet, Legolas," Aragorn explained. "Anorc, meet my good elven friend, Legolas-"

"Greenleaf!" Anorc finished, and tried to shove himself out of the hole, like-as-not to give the prince a hug. The bulky dwarf could not, however, scramble through his new hole, so he settled for a heart-felt handshake, which Legolas returned gratefully.

"But there really is **no** time for formalities!" Anorc continued, ducking into his hole. Aragorn and Legolas watched intently, as more gravel and dirt came showering into the room, while Anorc made the hole a little wider. "The evil elf has sent orcs this way," his deep voice continued from the hole. "They'll be here any second, not a moment to lose!"

His head appeared in the opening again after a moment. "Coming?"

Aragorn glanced at Legolas, who nodded quickly. "Coming, Anorc, and- thank you," Legolas said before he could stop himself. Somehow, it didn't matter if he was thanking a dwarf for something. He was going to get away! Away from this dungeon. He didn't know where that hole was supposed to lead, but any opportunity to do other than sit still and wish for freedom was welcome!

At that moment, the sound of the great rock being dragged from their prison's entrance filled the friends' ears. Legolas whirled around, but Aragorn dove for the hole. "Come on!" The human cried, grabbing the elf's travel-pack, as Anorc backed into the dark of his hole, making way for Aragorn to squeeze inside.

Legolas watched as his friend hesitated for a second at the opening, and then dove in, head first, his boots disappearing in the next instant. The elf ducked his head into the hole, and realized that it was, in fact, a hollowed-out tunnel. It was much bigger than the opening; big enough to sit in, maybe, with one's neck pressed against the ceiling.

Legolas bit his lip, tried to forget that it was a closed-in space, and dove in after the sound of his friend. Slowly, he pulled himself along the floor, feeling his feet slipping into the darkness after him.

The prince shouted in surprise before he realized why. Someone had grabbed his feet! The orcs were tugging him out of the hole; he could all ready hear them snarling behind them. His fingernails dug into the loose dirt, trying to anchor himself. "Estel!"

Aragorn managed to maneuver in a tight circle, when he heard the orcs coming, and now he crawled as best he could back down the tunnel. In the dark, he could feel Legolas' palely glowing hands. "Hold on!" he cried, tugging the elf the other direction.

The orcs, however, were all ready winning. Just as Aragorn managed to anchored his heals against the ground, they gave Legolas' an extra hard tug, jerking the human closer to the opening. "I'm all ready half out," Legolas told him, trying to bite back his panic. "Aragorn, go, you can still escape!"

"No, no not without you," Aragorn interrupted quickly, for he'd all ready guessed Legolas was going to say that.

"Estel, come on!" Anorc cried from further down the tunnel. "You have to get out, I promised you would!"

The human's mind spun for several seconds, and then- he let go of the prince's hands, taking off down the tunnel again as fast as he could.

The minute he let go, Legolas went sailing out of the hole, knocking several orcs over when he landed. He attempted to stand up, grabbing the roots hanging from the ceiling for support, but one of the larger orcs, pride wounded by being knocked over, landed a blow over the prince's upper back, felling him again.

Legolas lay dazed for a few blank moments, and only dully noticed one of the orcs flipping him over and tying his hands in front of him again. By the time his head stopped spinning, he was being stood up and shoved to the entrance of the cave.

They broke through to daylight, and Legolas' pupils instantly started dilating, causing his vision to blur yet again. But the prince wasn't thinking about his aching head or his swirling vision.

_He didn't say goodbye._ It was silly; So _very_ silly to be moping on this matter. So what if Aragorn didn't say goodbye? Legolas had told him to leave quickly, and so he had! But it just- wasn't like Aragorn to just disappear without saying _something_…

Maybe Legolas was just scared because he knew with Aragorn gone, Mornaeg would likely kill him. He'd probably never see his friend again…and he would have liked to say goodbye, that's all.

"Mellyn-nin!" Legolas' head jerked up towards the balcony before them, upon hearing Mornaeg's voice, his heart giving a leap of terror unexpected. But the elf was not standing there. The orcs seemed to be as confused as he, for their eyes were flicking like mad around the clearing, searching the elf out.

"Adar?" one called gruffly.

"Leithia Legolas, gwaur-del, tairi ansen daer a egol-eryn!"

The orcs stared in blank wonder around, still in search of the elf, and now twice as confused by the curious statement. Legolas was every bit as confused as the orcs, but for a totally different reason…

But despite the confusion, no one seemed to have made up their minds to say something yet, since it HAD been a gift from Mornaeg to teach the orcs Elvish in the first place- something to dangle over the firstborn, despite the fact that none of them cared for a it a jot. It amazed Legolas how terrified these cold-hearted beings were of an elf of all things. Proof that Mornaeg could have that affect on anyone.

Finally one orc plucked up the courage to asked the question they all wanted to. "And- what does that mean, Adar?"

A theatrical sigh echoed from somewhere to the left and up a bit. Perhaps from one of the lower balconies, but still beyond sight. "It MEANS, my friends, 'you have taken Legolas everywhere today, and it is time you rest and have a drink'."

Legolas' eyebrows shot up several centimeters. No, that wasn't what that meant at ALL. What the elf had just said was, 'Release Legolas, dirtily disgusting, discredit to this great and elven wood!'. Mystified though he was, Legolas made no reply…that wasn't Mornaeg.

Mornaeg didn't call him 'Legolas'.

The orcs hesitated, and the one who had spoken squinted suspiciously up into the trees. "A rest, Adar?" he sneered. "Drinks? You're not putting us all in with all the slacker-offs…"

"Nograd, I think like an elf would, you could use a break as well, mellon-nin. If that is all right with _you_ that is. If not, I'm quite happy to send you off to work." The tone had become cold, and was losing all sympathetic traces.

The orc just behind Nograd leapt forward. "Certainly not, Adar! We'll go and rest just now, and- and have drinks." That last part seemed to be what had propelled him with such force to the front of the line.

"Hang on, what about the elf?" Nograd demanded, digging a sharp claw into Leoglas' forearm, causing a small pool of blood to form under the elf's tunic. Legolas inhaled sharply, trying to pull away.

"I all ready have an orc to take him."

"One orc, Adar?" Nograd scoffed, "the elf isn't-"

"Nograd, do you want to argue with me, or do you want to get a drink with your fellows? I will not tell you twice! Mellon-nin, take the elf."

The orcs looked around to find a very stiff, very stocky, and very short being decked out in armor standing just to the right of them. "Stand aside, back up, let me have him."

"Who are you?" Nograd demanded sharply.

"Anorc," the other replied smartly, sounding as though he were smirking, though one couldn't tell under his helmet.

Legola's knees nearly buckled with relief, but he managed to look afraid for the other orcs' benefit.

"An orc, eh?" Nograd's eyes shot to the balcony again, still squinting.

"Am I going to have to talk you into it, Nograd, or would you like to added to that pen of 'slacker-offs'?"

Reluctantly, Nograd let go of Legolas' bleeding forearm, and stepped back to let Anorc through. "How do you expect to take on an elf, **short** one?" he demanded.

Anorc didn't reply, but pulled from his pocket a thin wire, and grabbing Legolas' hands (which were about even with his shoulders) wrapped the wire around one of his wrists, twisting it quickly, and holding one end in each hand. "Don't move," he told Legolas loudly, sporting a very convincing malicious undertone.

"What's that supposed to do?" Nograd demanded just as loudly, whilst the other orcs decided to leave well enough alone, and took off to find their drinks.

"I pull these two wires," Anorc replied in a holier-than-thou tone, "and they slice cleanly through his wrist; and this elf is one hand poorer."

There was a pause of surprise, and then Norgrad just shrugged, unable to hide his delight at the thought, and trudged off towards where his comrades were headed, deciding drinks were more interesting than guard duty anyway.

"Bring him to my room, mellon-nin," the voice told Anorc, and the dwarf complied easily, heading towards the woods.

The two walked in silence into the deep of Mirkwood for perhaps ten minutes, when finally Anorc came to a stop, and looking warily around, began to untie Legolas' hands. "Where's Estel?" Legolas asked as he worked.

"Behind you."

Legolas spun, nearly knocking Anorc over. "Estel," he breathed, and almost on cue, Anorc rook his ropes away.

Smiling, Aragorn pulled the elf into a tight embrace, which Legolas returned willingly. "You didn't really think I'd leave you, did you?"

Legolas laughed quietly into the human's hair. Anything seemed funny, right about now. "I told you to."

"Doing everything you tell me to?" Aragorn held him back out of the hug. "That's not like me, now is it. And neither is leaving without saying goodbye."

Legolas sobered a bit. "I know that," he said quietly. How did Aragorn always know…?

"Good," was all the human responded, squeezing the elf's shoulder, and letting go entirely. "Where are we to, Anorc?"

Anorc pointed a stubby finger vaguely at the forest around them. "That way."

"Where are we going?"

"I told you, that way!" Anorc insisted, pointing somewhere a bit more to the left than before.

Legolas gave Aragorn a raised-eyebrows look that made the human grin. "Right, so- shall we be off?"

The dwarf nodded, and took off at a trot into the woods, the other two just beside him in moments. "What plans you devise, mellon-nin!" Legolas exclaimed as they went. "And how did you imitate Mornaeg's voice so very well? The orcs believed it- **I** believed it."

"Since his attack on me in Mirkwood, his voice has been the better part of my darkest dreams, my friend," Aragorn replied quietly, meeting the other's eyes evenly.

Legolas pushed a branch out of his way, letting it snap backwards, just narrowly swinging over Anorc's head. "How did you put that together so quickly?"

"I was thinking all the way down the tunnel," the human shrugged. "It just occurred to me that impersonating Mornaeg was about the only way to dissuade the orcs. Anorc's used orc armor on several occasions for disguises. He'd brought it with him, planning to lead me out of the woods in it, making us less suspicious. I told him-"

"Beat me over the head with a _rock_ is what you did," the dwarf grumbled from somewhere closer to the ground.

Aragorn smirked. "I threatened him a little, and then I told him what to do. I climbed a tree…" he shrugged again, trailing off into silence.

Legolas had one more question, and by the look on his face, it was a simple curiosity question. More amusing than important. "Estel, how- how did you know that the orc's name was Nograd?"

Aragorn shook his head in wonder. "I don't think it was."

- - - - -

"Es…ke up…l!"

Aragorn blinked hard against the blinding light streaming from the sky. So many lights! Couldn't someone blow a few out? His head throbbed, and his eyes tried desperately to focus through the blinding whiteness. "Legolas…? Le…e…" he coughed hard, his head rocking to the side, and his ears ringing.

"Est…ea…ook at me!"

Was someone trying to talk to him? But he couldn't tell what they were saying, how was he supposed to respond? "Where are you?" he got out through a dry mouth.

"Look at me, Estel, look at me!" that cry was familiar.

Aragorn's eyes darted over the flashing sky, searching for a face. _Stop looking up!_ something in his head kept screaming. Look down. _Look down! _His gaze flicked further down, just above his heaving chest. There he was! "Legolas," he gasped, his mind reaching out to grasp something of memory.

"Estel, look a- are you all right? Can you see?"

Aragorn licked his lips lamely, and tried to think of what to say. "N-not really, I- the lights are too bright…"

The elf's eyes disappeared from view as they lifted to the sky instead, where Aragorn's gaze had been. "It's the stars, Aragorn," he told him gently.

"Oh." The human blinked hard, and for the first time could feel gentle fingers on either side of his head, probing his temples, attempting to still his swirling head. Legolas held tight to his friend's head, trying to keep the human's gaze on his face.

"Legolas, what- did I fall?" Aragorn asked desperately. He recalled walking through the woods with Legolas and Anorc in silence, but had no memory of getting from there to here on the ground.

"You said you were freezing," Legolas told him, "I asked where your coat was, and you said you were burning up. Yes, then you fell down."

Aragorn blinked hard again. No, he still didn't remember that, but it sounded about right considering how he'd been feeling lately. "C-can you help me up?"

Legolas bit his lip hesitantly. "I don't know if you should be-"

"I have to get out from under the stars, please."

"Okay," Legolas said quickly, "okay." He grabbed the human up in his arms as best he could, and managed to slide him under a great spreading tree. The shadows covered Aragorn from most of the stars, which relieved the human greatly.

"Where's Anorc?" the human breathed, his chest beginning to heave with cold. It was damp and chilly under the tree…he was beginning to feel his fever strongly again.

"I have no idea. He ran off a few minutes ago, after you fell."

Aragorn sighed. "There goes our guide. D- do you think h-he…"

"Abandoned us?" Legolas finished gently, pulling the human's trembling body closer. "I don't know."

"I'm…I'm hot," the human gasped quietly, "I- I'm-"

"You're all right, it's just a fever."

"N-no, no I'm not…" he began trying to push Legolas' hands away. "I'm so- I'm on fire, I need- let me go!" he cried, shoving at the elf frantically, his voice rising in pitch.

"Estel, Estel, calm down."

"I'm burning."

"You're all right."

"I need Adda!"

"Sh…" Legolas soothed carefully, trying to calm the thrashing body. "Aragorn, remember we have to stay quiet, okay? We don't want Mornaeg to find us, if he's still looking."

Aragorn shook his head wildly. "No, no, he'll never find us, I need- we need to get Adda, Legolas, we have to!"

"Shh…Estel, you have to-"

"Let go! I'm burning- I'm on fire, the fire!" He thrashed about, as though trying to dash flames, but Legolas held his body tightly, stoically begging him to be still.

"Mornaeg might find us."

"No he won't! He…he won't…He'd never come all the way to Rivendell," Aragorn whispered, his body calming a bit.

Legolas didn't reply, his heart freezing with the night air.

"He'd never come to Rivendell, would he El? He's got more sense than that…" the human's body started to tremble. "It's so cold…c-can you get me Mother's blanket? The one she left with me when I was a baby…it still smells like her…like Eucalyptus…Legolas' mother smells like Eucalyptus, does Adda? It-it…he's dying, you know…he's dying, Legolas."

"Who?" Legolas asked blankly, not even half-expecting an intelligent answer.

"Edren…someone killed Edren, and he- and you'll miss him forever. You'll forget me, though, when I'm dead…"

Legolas made no reply of emotion, made no protest to the untrue words. Aragorn's ears would have no use for comfort just now. Instead, he shook his head in silence, and started pulling the human to his feet. "Come on, Estel, we need to keep going."

"I'm sorry I'm not Edren. I wish I was Edren, Legolas…I wish-"

"Come on, mellon-nin." Legolas wrapped an arm under Aragorn's shoulders, lifting him partway off the ground. "There you go, easy does it…"

"I can't do it, Legolas I can't-"

"You can, come on, you can do it." Legolas' voice strained as he hauled the human to his feet. "You can," he kept saying, speaking to the both of them.

Aragorn's feet slid numbly underneath him, supporting his weight only a little. "Legolas, where will we go?"

"I don't care. Somewhere. Forward, I guess." _Valar help me…_

The two stumbled through the dark, Legolas calling in vain for Anorc once or twice, as silently as possible. Aragorn still attempted to keep his head clear, or at least keep from saying something nonsensical. The back of his mind managed to convince him that it wouldn't be good for Legolas to be spouting off feverish drivel.

It was steadily getting darker, and Legolas' body was worn out trying to support his human friend. Surely there was a landmark for Gabil Gundu somewhere here? Shouldn't he recall something about the surroundings from their last visit?

"Hang on, my friend," he whispered automatically as Aragorn slipped into groans of nonsense again. "Hold on, we're almost there. We're almo-wha-!"

whap! thud thud thud **CRACK **thudududud SNAP "Legolas! " _thud…thud…thud…thud…WHAM!_

"Legolas! " 

Silence. Echoing off itself.

Legolas' eyes slid open, and he was looking into tree branches silhouetted against the sky. He remembered staggering under Aragorn's weight, and his tired body had moved to the side. He could still feel his foot as it slipped over the edge of the hill…but everything else was a blur. Tumbling, flipping, rolling, crashing through the underbrush, through twigs and leaves, and…and a tree. He'd tried to catch himself on a tree with his foot, but his ankle had caught in a niche under one of its roots instead. He'd kept on falling…

The elf attempted to sit up, and felt white pain shoot from his foot to his hip, causing him to cry out. He'd kept on falling, after catching his foot under the root, and the weight of his own body had broken something. Even now, he began recall the loud **_SNAP_** as a bone in his right leg, somewhere, had cracked.

Biting back at the pain, Legolas pushed himself to hands and one knee. "Estel?" he called, his eyes scanning the hill frantically for the human. He couldn't remember at which point he'd let go of his friend, but he knew that it was probably shortly after slipping. "He could be anywhere," he whispered aloud to himself, mostly out of frustration. "Estel?"

"L- Le…"

The prince whirled, his eyes flicking to further up the hill instead. "Aragorn!" Freezing agony ran in waves up Legolas' leg as he forced himself up the hill towards the human's voice. "Aragorn," he breathed again, his heart racing with fear, when he was close enough to see his friend. The human was caught in a veritable mass of brambles and thorns. His muddy hands clung shakily to a rock- the only thing keeping his descent from taking him through the rest of the spiky weeds.

"Hold on, just keep holding," Legolas told him quietly, his left hand snapping over his shoulder for one of his twin knives, and starting to hack away at the thorns. It didn't take long to make his way through the bottommost weeds, but upon reaching Aragorn at last, he found the human's predicament much more complicated than he'd originally thought.

Aragorn's clothes were snagged from all directions, and his skin all ready scarred by thousands of small, red scores. The worst of it, however, was the inch-thick vine of thorns wrapped around the man's neck. Its roots were further up the hill, which meant Aragorn's own weight was tugging it further into his flesh. Legolas pulled himself up the hill, until he was hovering just beneath the human's trembling body. "Hold still, as still as you can."

"Hel- help me…" Aragorn whispered distantly, as though he wasn't even sure to whom he was speaking. And maybe he wasn't.

"I will, I will." Legolas twisted his knife as close to the thorns surrounding his friend's neck as he dared.

Aragorn thrashed to the side, trying to grip the rock harder. "I'm falling, I'm going to fall…" he muttered feverishly.

"Don't move," Legolas pleaded gently, pressing the knife against the soft skin at the back of Aragorn's neck, attempting to get the point between skin and thorns.

He was about to look up towards the one who'd shot the arrow, when his father cried out, thrashing beneath his weight. Legolas looked back down to find his knife tipped in blood, and a slit running the length of Thranduil's left collarbone. His own fingers were already tinged in blood.

Legolas' weapon jerked back, away from Aragorn's neck. "I can't do it, Aragorn, I might hurt you with you moving around like this." He licked his lips, and looked up the hill. His leg throbbed horribly, but what had to be done had to.

Clenching his jaw, Legolas began to climb again, grabbing weeds that looked like they would hold, and a few that did not, just because there was nothing else to grab. At last, he was just above the rock Aragorn clung so dearly to, and he started to trace the vine leading from the human's neck with his eyes. There! Fingering for the thorns in the dark, he finally found it, and clipped it swiftly in two.

The pressure around Aragorn's neck released, and he relaxed just slightly. Leaning down as far as he could, his arms and legs both straining with the effort, Legolas managed to disentangle the vine from around his friend's neck, which luckily left only a chain of red marks in the skin, and none of its thorns. "Now Aragorn, I'm going t-"

It must have been the strain of leaning down so far from further up the hill, but with a sickening **_SNAP_** whatever it was that had fractured in his leg earlier, gave out the rest of the way. Legolas shouted, and his hand shot to his knee, where it seemed most of the pain was. "Aragorn…" he whispered, the agony blinding him with surprising abruptness. "My friend, can you slide down the-" he paused to gasp, attempting to calm his voice. "Hill?"

The human shook his head vaguely, knuckles turning white with clinging so hard to his anchor.

"Estel- I think I'm going to fall," the elf told him in a tense voice, held almost suspended above Aragorn's position, and kept from falling only by one hand, as the other one clutched at his throbbing knee. "If I slip, I'll land on you, and I don't want to," he bit out.

Aragorn continued to shake his head. "Adda's coming…I've got to wait for him, because he won't let me fall. He never does."

"Aragorn!" Legolas shouted frantically, feeling his body sliding down over the slippery leaves just a bit further. Closer to Aragorn's precious rock. "You've got t-"

"I didn't _mean_ to climb this high!" the human shouted back, offended. "I just- they all tease me, sometimes, because I'm not like them…because I'm not as quick as they are. I had to prove- to- to show them that I'm just as good. I can climb trees too…I can. I just got too high, Legolas, that's all."

"Estel…" Legolas pleaded between gritted teeth, attempting to alter his course to Aragorn's left a bit, should he fall. "Look, I cut the brambles out from under you, all you have to do is let go, and let yourself slide down."

"No, no." Aragorn insisted, trying to wrap his arms around the rock. "Adda will come. He'll come."

Well, there was nothing for it. He'd have to ignore the pain and press on. Legolas reached behind him for something else to grab, to pull him away from Aragorn's position, his knee screaming at him all the while. He wrapped his fingers around what felt like a small, skinny tree.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a tree; it was a thin, reed-like weed. One that had no grab in the soil it was standing in. The minute he pulled on it, it gave way, sending a clod of dirt flying, and throwing Legolas' balance completely off. He fell.

Yet again, when Legolas opened his eyes, and saw the sky, he didn't remember the fall very clearly, but he was much more awake this time, and fully aware of the firmly throbbing ache in his knee.

"Aragorn?" Adrenaline shot through his system at saying the name, and the world of worry it brought with its sound. All ready the most horrible ideas were flashing through Legolas' head. How hard had he hit the man? Was he all right? Was he conscious?

He could only remember tumbling forward, and seeing Aragorn's shaking figure rushing towards him. His stomach had made impact with the human's side, he was pretty sure, but that wasn't what he remembered the clearest. His injured knee had hit the rock dead-on, sending an earthquake of sickening pain up his body, to his very temples. Aragorn had given a cry of fear and pain, when the knee hit his hands, still clinging so dearly to the rock, and he'd let go.

But where was he? Legolas pushed himself into a sitting position, rolling over to crawl. "Valar!" he screamed, falling onto his back, and grabbing for his knee again. "Estel? Estel, are you all right?" he gritted between clenched teeth. There was still no reply.

"Aragorn, I think my knee is broken," he called, surprisingly calm. "Can you make your way to me, my friend? Can you answer me?" cruel, ringing silence. "Aragorn!" What if he wasn't all right? What if he was unconscious, or taken by his Bengwiil-induced fever, and could not resurface? He needed help, he needed healing! "Aragorn, if you can hear me, answer me." Nothing. "Dambeth-nin!"

/answer me/

There was still no response, and Legolas wasn't about to lie alone, in the dark, until Mornaeg and his orcs came and dragged them both back to Mandossea. Clenching his jaw so tightly that it made his temples throb, he rolled over onto his stomach, and pressed his hands against the ground. He'd drag himself to Araogrn if he had to! Pulling his knees up under him, he pressed them against the dirt, in a crawling position.

White pain rushed up his leg, and his whole side shivered with nerve-reaction to the broken bone. Legolas cried out softly, hissing the breath back in through his teeth, and attempted to take a crawling step forward. Again, his nerves started firing warnings at him, causing his whole right side to shake with pain and exhaustion.

Now, Legolas' jaw was so tight, he thought his back teeth would crack. He pulled himself another inch forward, with just his hands, and then brought both knees up again. He hadn't been able to see, in the panic and the dark, the large, sharp stone jutting out of the ground just beneath him.

The jagged side caught him on his wounded knee, as he tried to pull it into a crawling position again. It felt as though someone had driven a stick of metal straight through the prince's knee, and he shouted in agony, toppling over, his hands groping for the source of the pain, as though his own fingers could heal it.

"Faelas, Ilú vatar, makoi nin!" he shouted, the first words that came into his head. Gripping his knee with both hands, he lay on his back in the dark, staring once more at the starry sky. "Estel?" he called, almost groaning, after a moment of quiet. "Estel, please, can you hear me? Aragorn, can you hear me! ARAGORN!"

Frustration boiled its way to the surface, and Legolas' mind and body were tired of working. He felt fatigued all over, and yet the desperate situation he was in was driving uncalled-for waves of adrenaline up and down his system. But what could he do? Nothing! He was helpless.

Aragorn could be dead, for all he knew.

And that last thought, too much for the elf to bear, sent his mind sprawling into thousands of horrific ideas and dark pictures of the possibilities. Every conceivable thing that could happen to him and his friend now, flashed across his mental vision, until he was too tired to consider them, and too weak to care.

He attempted to crawl several more times, pulling himself on his elbows in who-knew-which direction. At last, his hand closed around something strangely comforting. He had no idea what it was, but it was safe. It was reassuring and familiar…whatever it was, it was all he seemed to have left anymore.

And without his consent, his eyes shut, and his body went lax.

- - - - -

"Aragorn…Aragorn!"

Legolas. Legolas was calling him again. Aragorn's body shifted barely over the dead leaves. Adda hadn't come. Why hadn't he come! He'd let Aragorn fall from the tree, and now he didn't know where he was anymore…and where was Legolas? He'd landed on him, right? No. No, Legolas wasn't- why didn't-

Tree? What tree was he thinking of, he'd been clinging to a rock! Yes, and Legolas tried to- he was…Aragorn couldn't think. He couldn't remember anything clearly, he only knew that he and Legolas were lost, and- and Anorc had run off without them. They would never make it now…what if Mornaeg-

"Faelas, Ilú vatar, makoi nin!"

Legolas! Mornaeg was torturing Legolas again, he was- he was going to kill him! Aragorn had to do something…_I'll get Anorc to dress up as an orc, and take Legolas away. Anorc? An orc? How strange…Legolas- Legolas! I'll pretend to be Mornaeg! _Yes, that was it. It could really work, he knew it could! He'd save Legolas' life…he'd-

Aragorn opened his eyes, and was immediately blinded by the lights shining above him once more, only barely tinted by the trees' shadows.

"Aragorn, can you hear me! ARAGORN!"

"Legolas…" Aragorn tried to whisper, but his throat was dry, coated in dirt from his fall. And anyway, the elf's voice sounded so far away, he'd probably never find him. They were lost. And now Mornaeg would find them, and he'd torture Legolas, and kill Aragorn, and…

A wolf moaned in the distance, and something ran across a tree branch, snapping a dead stick on its way.

"Legolas…" he tried a second time, his eyes darting around in the gray light.

The fallen stick hit the leaves with a whispered _cisss_, making it sound as though someone was walking there, and had stopped. Mornaeg?

The human's body began to panic, but every time he moved, it seemed to make a great, crackling sound, as the dead leaves broke beneath him. He couldn't move. Mornaeg would hear him if he moved. But- he couldn't stay here!

"Legolas," he whispered again. "Legolas where are-"

The wind rustled the grasses and trees gently, sending dead leaves crawling over top of each other in a steady wave. The sound terrified Aragorn, for now, there was no knowing where Mornaeg was standing. Another rustle from the left…a twig from the right.

Aragorn felt his head being jerked up, and he was looking in to dark, green eyes.

"Legolas!" Aragorn called, much louder this time, trying to sit up, but his body shook at the effort, and seemed to hold him against the ground. "Legolas help me!"

"Try not to scream **too** loudly." He jeered softly, pressing annoyingly close to Aragorn's face. "It wouldn't do to have your friend up here too soon."

His hands groped in the dark for a weapon, though of course there wasn't one- well, he reached with his right hand, anyway. His left, however, seemed to be weighted down, and wouldn't move. Something was holding it to the ground, not letting it get away.

snap Another stick! Rustling- did he hear voices? Yes. He was sure he did! It was Mornaeg. It was Mornaeg! "Someone- anyone?" he cried, blinding memories flashing through his head.

"Stay quiet, now. He screamed over this one the most." All of a sudden, he knew why the elf was attempting to suffocate him. He cried out with the last of his breath as the evil dagger plunged once more, this time into his leg, just behind his knee. The weapon struck his kneecap, and the blow sent an earthquake of pain up Aragorn's leg.

"Illú vatar!" Aragorn screamed, gripping his knee, where the healing wound was, as though the dagger were still there. Still, his other hand wouldn't move. Maybe Mornaeg was holding it- Mornaeg was going to kill him- where was Legolas!

Even now, the human could feel someone reaching down, picking him up, carrying him away! Back to Mandossea, he couldn't go. He couldn't! He began to struggle in the icy hands that reached for him. "No, no you can't- you can't take me back, I-I won't let you! No- n-" he pushed away at the being reaching for him. "Leave me alone! Us nin er, please, I beg you, please leave me leave me alone leave-"

"Estel, Estel, shhh, it's all right, Estel, it's all right…ie'seere, ion-nin."

Aragorn's eyes fluttered open, his body still tense and gasping, his hands gripping with all their might to the robes of the one who was holding him. But it wasn't Mornaeg.

"Adda?"

And at the relieved smile on the elf's lips, Aragorn buried his face in the smell of Rivendell emanating from the velvet robes pressed against him, and began to cry softly as protective arms wrapped their embrace even tighter around him.


	7. Lost, Found, Lost

**Chapter 7**

**Lost, Found, Lost**

A breeze. Oh, that's what it was, it was a breeze! It touched his face, backed away, and then whispered back at twice the speed, breathing over his entire body. Relaxing him, reviving him. Legolas opened his eyes. He was in Rivendell, lying on a soft bed, the colored leaves dancing over the mattress and his own body both with a sort of playful intention.

_Rivendell. By the Valar, I'm in Rivendell!_

Legolas threw his feet over the side of the bed, and realized he'd never felt better in his life. The breath of Rivendell resounded about him, like great arms embracing his weary body. He looked down at himself. He was dressed in a lavender tunic, decorated by intricate silver thread, and there didn't appear to be a scratch on him. He was alive and well.

The sound of a young elf singing swam distantly up from elsewhere unknown. He walked curiously to the balcony, a smile all ready touching his lips at the lovely voice. It was a young girl, by the sound of it…she was singing of a garden, made of only white. The pale, glowing white with which the moon is colored.

As he approached the railing, he looked down. There was an elf pacing the stone cobbles below…waiting for something. Elrond?

"Elrond!" Legolas called, and then laughed, feeling so good to see him. The laughter echoed in a golden way, jumping from each and every balcony before running away. "Lord Elrond, where is Estel?"

The elf lord looked up, and smiled faintly. "Legolas," he replied, but his voice seemed so, so far away.

Legolas frowned. "My lord?"

"Estel is sleeping. He's resting right now, Legolas." The elven lord nodded encouragingly. "But you must wake."

"Wake…?" Legolas replied faintly.

"Yes. You are healed, for now, and we need your help. I'm sorry." Suddenly, unexplainably, the elf lord was beside him. He hadn't flown, he hadn't run…he hadn't disappeared either, he just simply stood in the courtyard, then went straight to the balcony and faced the young elf standing there.

"Estel needs you." He smiled sadly as Legolas faced him, and reached out a hand to touch the prince's forehead. "Awake, Prince of Mirkwood."

And all began to fade into blackness.

- - - - -

Legolas' eyes snapped open. He was looking up at a cavern, glowing orange. A cavern? Yes, he could see the stalactites hanging far, far above the place in which he lay. A great tunnel…

The prince shot into a sitting position, the words "I'm in a cave," spilling from his lips before he could stop them.

"Yes you are," came a quiet voice, causing him to spin the other direction.

"Elrond!" Legolas cried, but the echo that fled through the tunnel ran in fear, and didn't stay to be joyous as it had in his dream. It was an echo dank and damp as the ground on which the elf was sitting. Even so, he was very glad to see Elrond's face.

The elven lord smiled, and then looked down at what he was doing, closing his eyes partway.

It was then that Legolas realized what it was the healer was doing. Lying on the ground just before him, his head pillowed on a balled-up cloak, lay Aragorn. His eyes were closed, and his chest was rising and falling steadily. Elrond's long, strong fingers were poised on either side of the human's temples, and he was whispering gently.

"Thank you," Legolas said after a moment of enjoying his friend's peaceful sleep. "Thank you for taking me to Rivendell…I needed it."

"You're welcome," the lord replied quietly. "I thought you might. And you had to sleep while we fixed your knee anyway."

Legolas tested the joint thoughtfully. It was sore, and he wasn't sure he'd trust his weight to it, but the pain was dramatically lessened. "Where's Estel?" he asked after a moment.

"In his room," Elrond replied smilingly faintly. "I think he needs it even more than you, Legolas."

"I _know_ he does," Legolas countered quickly, and the elven lord nodded, and seemed satisfied.

"Estel," he suddenly whispered, closing his eyes the rest of the way. "Don't think I'm going to pretend I didn't see that."

Aragorn shifted in his sleep, and a very familiar smile crept across his lips.

"Now you put that back, before your brother finds out," Elrond chided the sleeping young man, unable to hide his enjoyment of the situation Legolas could not see.

Again, the human shifted in his sleep, but this time, his head rocked loosely from side to side, in a gesture of "no", and his smile widened.

Legolas grinned back at him automatically, then lifted his eyes to the ceiling, the smile disappearing under a frown. "We're in Gabil Gûndu." It wasn't a question. He remembered this place well.

"It isn't the same hall you knew- it's changed. But yes," the elf lord responded.

"Lord Elrond," Legolas asked slowly, something just coming to him. "How did you find us?"

"We'd been searching awhile. Anorc told us where you were-"

"Anorc? So he didn't-"

"Betray you? By the Valar, I should say not. He came immediately to us, when Estel collapsed, and took us to your location. The trouble was, you weren't there anymore."

Legolas felt slightly stupid, and apparently, the lord could see it, for he added, "Do not look down on yourself, young one. You were right to press on, and brave as well. Goodness knows what would have found you, had you stayed where you were. There was sound of orcs about, when we at last found you."

"And how _did_-"

Aragorn stirred, tossing his head to the side in Elrond's grasp. The elf lord, closed his eyes, and gently whispered, close to the human's forehead, "shh…rest, my son. Lie down and rest. Use Elladan's blanket, it's warmer; He won't mind. Idh mae, ion-nin."

The human's body slackened all-the-more, and a small breath hissed from between his lips as his head rocked to the side in sleep. Elrond smiled fondly down at him, and then lifted his interested eyes to Legolas, as though expecting a question.

"How did you find Estel and me?"

"We heard you cry out, that led us in the correct direction. As we approached, Estel turned terrified at our footsteps, and while unfortunate for him, it was beneficial to us, for we managed to find your exact location. Estel was lying on his back, his eyes darting at the sky, and his body thrashing about, as though to get away from something. You, Legolas, were lying on your face, your leg at a disturbingly odd angle, and your hand grasping for dear life to his hand." Elrond's eyes seemed to see through Legolas', and were proud of what they found. "You wouldn't let go, even in sleep, until I lulled you into Rivendell, and relaxed you."

"Before my consciousness fled me," Legolas said quietly, "I recall finding something in the dark, familiar. I did not know it was Aragorn's hand." He shook his head in wonder, and expected to see confusion on Elrond's face, or at least the curiosity he himself was feeling.

But rather, the lord look pleased all-the-more, and shifted his gaze then back to Aragorn.

"How-" Legolas asked suddenly, the question just coming to him. "How did you escape, my lord?"

Elrond sighed a moment, then shook his head. "More about that later. We must get moving. There's much to do, and little time, especially for Estel."

Regretfully, he pressed a warm palm against Aragorn's forehead, and called soflty, "Estel? My son, you must awake."

Aragorn's eyebrows furrowed, and he shook his head slightly.

"It's all right…" the lord continued gently. "Take my hand. I'll lead you to Legolas."

And after a few moments, the human's eyes slid open. His blue gaze roved the ceiling above him, as Legolas' had upon first awakening, and then fixed on the elf prince's face. "Legolas," he smiled gently.

"Mae govonen," responded the friend, reaching for Aragorn's hand, and squeezing it in his own. Proving to the human that he was indeed awake.

"I was in Rivendell," he whispered, smiling up at Elrond. "Thank you, Adda…it was good to go home."

Elrond smiled back, and squeezed the young man's shoulder silently. "We must get moving. There is much to explain, and-" he paused a moment, judging what it was he should say. Finally, he finished, "And we need to show Legolas something."

Legolas's eyebrows furrowed, but he knew better than to ask what. Instead, he went about working himself into a standing position. At first, his knee trembled with the weight put on it, but it stiffened, something popped, and it held firm, leaving only the very back of it throbbing lightly.

Nodding with satisfaction, Elrond beckoned Legolas over to help him with Aragorn. And once the three of them were on their feet, they started off down the tunnel.

- - - - -

It seemed like they had walked for an hour, by the time they reached their destination. They were standing before a great, stone wall, stretching from the ceiling to the floor. Before he realized what he was doing, Legolas had backed away several steps. He felt a warm hand close over his shoulder, and looked up to see Aragorn standing just over his shoulder.

"Mellon-nin?"

"I can't go in there," Legolas whispered. "I remember it too well, Estel, I'll just- Lord Elrond, can we-"

"Legolas, listen to me," the elf lord said gently but seriously, moving to stand before the prince. "This is not the hall you remember. Not anymore. By the wisdom of Binwen, the dwarf that set you free, it has become a better place. You must trust me, young prince. You need to conquer your fear."

Legolas licked his lips vaguely, his eyes tracing the stone wall cautiously. His cold fingers splayed to the sides, opening his hand wide, and he swung it behind it, groping for Aragorn's. The human quickly grabbed the outstretched hand, and squeezed it tight in his own. And smiling a little, Legolas nodded.

Approaching the wall, Elrond's voice rang out, "People of Gabil Gû ndu! It is I, Lord Elrond!"

Instantly, the rocks began to slide before them, just as they had when last the two friends were here. Some of them fell off, rolling down the passage, but most of them pulled back, creating a great crack that spread into a doorway. Legolas would probably never understand the Dwarve's idea of magic, really.

Finally, the doorway was complete opened, and the three stepped through into the great hall beyond. And Lord Elrond was right…it wasn't the same place Legolas remembered.

There were ten times the doors there had been, leading in every direction from the great room, leading to unknown places underground in a veritable network. There was more traffic, too; dwarves moving back and forth over the dirt floor, moving in and out through various doors, and making a surprisingly small amount of noise, for their kind.

Looking up, Legolas saw where Bodruith's thrown had been, at the top of the stone dais, there was now a table instead, with plants and various liquids spilled over it. His hand relaxed its grasp on Aragorn's. Standing beside the table was a fair-haired elf, pursuing with great concentration a book lying open before him.

"Harain," Legolas breathed, running four steps up the dais, Aragorn tagging quickly along, his hand still holding the prince's.

The healer turned, and his face lit with enjoyment. "Your highness," he acknowledged, putting his hand to his chest and bringing it away in the elven greeting. "It does me good to see you."

"And I you," Legolas put in. "I owe you much, my friend."

Harain ignored the comment, seeming a little uncomfortable with it, and turned his gaze to Aragorn instead. "Young Estel," he smiled, repeating the elven gesture. "The lord of Rivendell told us you were well. I'm glad."

Aragorn returned the greeting, and smiled. "Legolas told me of your exile on his and my account, Harain. I thank you."

Again, the elf seemed a little uncomfortable with the praise, and Aragorn realized him to be too humble for the words. And yet, Harain nodded, accepting it, and added, "I did what I could, and what I fervently believe the both of you would do for each other." At this, his eyes sparkled, and he looked over the two heads to the figure standing behind them.

Aragorn and Legolas both turned to look at Elrond, who was meeting Harain's gaze with a similar expression.

"And what have you been telling this elf, Adda?" Aragorn demanded, feigning indigence.

The lord only shrugged, and looked as though he would have answered, when a third elf came running up the side steps of the dais, all ready speaking Harain's name. "Harain," he repeated, "Bryn finished the trench, and he says you were going to teach him to sew it. He's getting impatient," the elf winced, causing Harain to grin slightly.

"Well, so I did." He turned to the two friends. "I shall see the both of you later." They nodded, and he followed the second elf out of the hall and through one of the many doors.

"And how did Harain come to be here, Elrond?" Legolas asked, in a tone that guessed he wasn't going to find out just yet.

"Later," Elrond responded, proving the prince right. "First…I have something I must tell you, Legolas."

Curious, Aragorn and Legolas both followed the elven lord across the great hall, and towards a door far to the corner. It was different from the others- the door was made out of a refined oak, as apposed to the random log that most of them were made of. Elrond came to stand before the door, and placed a gentle hand on it, turning slowly to face them.

There was a moment of silence, and unable to bear this secrecy yet again, Legolas blurted, "What, Lord Elrond?"

"I have something to tell and something to show," Elrond began, clasping his hands studiously behind his back, and taking a step towards Legolas. "It's going to be hard for you, and a lot to take in, this I know. But I also know that if I withhold it from you, you and I both will regret it."

Legolas fought not to be impatient or afraid, but the completely still and serious expression on the elven lord's face made his heart race with both emotions automatically.

He reached out a hand to grab Legolas' shoulder- a gesture the prince was not used to receiving from the elf lord. "It's about Edren," he said quietly.

"Edren?" Legolas' voice echoed, his face changing from uneasy anticipation to confusion.

"Legolas, he…well he's alive."

Maybe it was because of the heartache he had endured after Aragorn "died", maybe it was because death seemed so blatantly certain this time, but Legolas hadn't left any room in his thinking for the possibility that Edren wasn't dead.

It took him several moments to stop staring blankly at Elrond, and shift his vision to the floor instead.

_Say something…shouldn't you say something?_

But when Legolas tried to speak, all that came out was, "Oh."

The response seemed to surprise Elrond as well, because for a moment he just stood there, his hand on prince's shoulder, as though at a loss for a response. Then, the next moment, he started to speak in the same tone he'd been using before, as though nothing had happened in between.

"As I said, it's a lot to take in, but there's something else I-"

"Where is he?"

"What?"

Legolas looked back up at Elrond, his eyes suddenly lit with desperation. "Where is Edren?" His words started to speed up, as though they'd simply been held up for a time in his throat, and were all trying to come out at once. "Is he in Rivendell, is he back home, in Mirkwood, with my father, is-"

Legolas' eyes fixed on the door behind Elrond, and something behind his eyes clicked. He started towards it.

"No, Legolas, wait." Elrond stepped in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders, and trying to haul him back from the door.

"Let me go!" Legolas cried out in surprise, trying to pry the fingers off his shoulder.

Elrond held tight, trying to make eye-contact. "There's something-"

"Edren's behind that door, isn't he!"

"Calm down."

"But he's alive," Legolas pleaded, attempting to push away again, his boot heals smacked the floor like a nervous horse.

"Listen to me."

"Let him go," Aragorn stepped suddenly beside the two, and began trying to separate them. "Adda, can't you just-"

"Aragorn," Elrond said, and Aragorn shot back a step as though hit, at the stern tone, and the use of the his human name.

But Aragorn's interference had been enough for Legolas, since Elrond's strength, when divided, wasn't enough for Legolas' sudden determination to be in that room. The prince shoved past the elven lord, wrenched the door open, swung inside, and slammed it behind him.

Elrond attempted to open the door after him, but Legolas was still holding the handle on the other side, sealing it shut. He let go reluctantly, turning to find Aragorn, whose back was braced against the wall, his eyes still wide with surprise.

"Estel," but Aragorn shook his head, cutting him off.

"I'm sorry, Adda, I don't know what came over me…I only-" he swallowed hard. "I have seen Legolas this way many times in the past days and…I never used to see him so desperate, and now I do all the time...I hate it. My reaction to it has become automatic," he concluded meekly.

Elrond's stern air did not leave him, and yet, under the surface, it had changed from anger to concern. It was a mild change, and not a visible one, but Aragorn sensed it acutely, and it made his stomach tighten abruptly.

"Adda-" he whispered. "What have I done?"

- - - - -

Sighing, Legolas let go of the door-handle, and took a step back. What had come over him! Since when did he scuffle with the Lord Elrond? And Aragorn as well…suddenly, he felt all the more horrible, realizing he'd dragged Aragorn into a fight with his father.

_I shall need to ask both their forgiveness, _Legolas thought numbly to himself, as he pushed a flattened hand against the door again in thought.

And somehow touching the door seemed to bring into his head what he was really doing…trying not to think about the present. No matter how wonderful the idea seemed, he just couldn't bring himself to face the possibility that Edren was alive!

And yet, when he'd stood before this same door, on the other side, he HAD felt something…something comforting that brought back a flood of childhood memories with it, like a familiar smell sometimes does. And the feeling had grown since walking through the door…

"Is that- Legolas?"

Legolas turned suddenly, the voice startling him. He was looking into a dim room, surprisingly beautiful for underground, decorated with two things: a bed and a small table.

Legolas walked forward slowly, the torches on the wall flickering as he stepped past, his eyes fixed on where the voice had come from. It was an elf, sitting halfway up in the bed…

Legolas choked. "Edren."

He ran, leapt onto the bed, and threw his arms around his friend. "I didn't dare believe it," he shuddered, squeezing the elf as tightly as his frailty would permit. "But you're alive. You're alive, Edren, I can't believe it!" he cried, and then laughed as well, the net result being a sort of coughing sob, which skittered into a hysterical, breathy laugh.

"Yes, I am," came the soft reply as Edren's arms went loosely around the prince. "They- they said you were coming. Legolas, m- mellon-nin."

And Legolas froze. "Edren?"

Edren's right hand gave his arm a half-hearted squeeze, while his left lay behind Legolas' head, just barely brushing his golden hair. As though the elf were glass. Legolas pulled back out of the hap-hazard hug in confusion.

"What's wrong?"

Edren smiled faintly. "Nothing, Legolas."

The words sounded so fake, it made Legolas leap off the bed in fear, backing into one of the bed-posts instead. He felt as though he were in a dream. "What is going on, Edren, what's happened to you?"

Edren shrugged, still trying a faintly pleased smile, though the expression looked like a poorly-crafted mask. "Elrond said you'd come, I just- wasn't expecting you yet."

Legolas' eyes shifted to Edren's hands. They were messing with his tunic-front, rearranging the wrinkles left by Legolas' hug, and he seemed to be checking himself to make sure he hadn't lost or broken anything in the midst of his friend's embrace. He was trembling.

"Legolas, it is strange, all this, but believe me, it makes no more sense to me either," Edren said in a tone that insinuated Legolas should understand what he was talking about. He looked up again.

It was then that Legolas realized was seemed so wrong. Edren's eyes. They were searching him, sizing him up, taking in every detail of the prince's appearance. And in they're essence they were not happy, nor upset. Nor did they even carry the confusion his voice conveyed…Edren's gaze was curious.

"Edren," Legolas whispered, his voice low with scarcely-concealed alarm. "Don't you…"

Edren's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, as something dawned on him. "Elrond said he was going to tell you," he murmured worriedly. "Didn't- didn't he tell you first?"

Legolas stared to pant, and stepped slowly back from the bed, trying hard to make himself calm down. "No."

"Legolas-"

"No…no…n-no…" his back hit the door, and his cold fingers fumbled for the latch.

Edren was sitting up in bed, his eyes wide with a strange concern. "Legolas, I- I'm sorry-"

**SLAM!**

Legolas stood, panting, his back braced against the wooden door, and for the briefest second he attempted to think. He was still frantically whispering, "no…no…no…"

"Legolas?" Aragorn approached his friend hesitantly.

Legolas' eyes darted upwards, catching the familiar look of concern in the man's eyes. "Where is Elrond?" he demanded.

The low, cold tone took Aragorn by surprise, and he paused a moment before answering. "He's gone to fetch Edren's medications. He's had him taking-"

"I don't **care** what Edren's been taking," Legolas snapped.

Aragorn flinched as though he'd been struck, and began to fumble for his words. "I-I'm sorry about Edren. Ada told me-"

Legolas shook his head in irritation, shunning the offered comfort, and pushed past Aragorn, yelling, "Lord Elrond!"

Aragorn's hands clenched and unclenched nervously, and he watched his friend's impatient gaze sweep the great hall before him. "Lord El-"

"Legolas." The prince whirled around, facing the elven lord who had come swiftly up behind him at hearing his name shouted.

Legolas froze for the briefest moment, during which he consulted Elrond's eyes…searching for answers. And in the lord of Rivendell's gaze there was an apology. He knew.

"What have you done to Edren!" Legolas shouted suddenly, causing Aragorn's breath to catch in his throat.

"There was only one way to save him, Legolas. He was shot in the neck with a poisoned arrow."

"Was he dead when you found him?"

"No."

"Then he had a chance! What did you do to him, Elrond, WHAT!" Legolas took a violent step forward, and the picture of him shouting at the elven lord reminded Aragorn of a spoiled child and his father. He wanted to intervene, and yet felt Elrond still didn't want him to.

"The poison was a mixture of Bengwiil and Salab, Legolas, it attacked, numbed and then attempted to heal Edren's mind. We did all we could, but we could not salvage his memories."

"He doesn't _remember _me, ELROND!" Legolas spat the name like it was an insult, his eyes reddening with tears. "I've known him all my life, and he doesn't remember me AT ALL!"

"Legolas, I'm sorry-" Elrond attempted to reach out to the prince, but Legolas shoved his hands away.

"No- don't!" he cried, "I don't NEED your pity. Amin delotha le!"

/I hate you/

"Legolas!" Aragorn shouted, before he could stop himself, and glanced quickly from the elf to Lord Elrond. His father didn't react.

"Legolas, listen-"

"NO!" The prince shook his head violently.

"Listen to me."

"I don't want to hear your excuses!"

"Legolas." Elrond's tone was suddenly very stern, and Legolas' glistening eyes seemed to lose a little of their glare. "There was nothing else that could be done. Do you understand me? There was nothing else we could do. There was nothing. Else. Would you rather have lost Edren?"

Legolas' eyes darted back and forth between Elrond's for a long moment, before he whispered hoarsely, "Maybe…"

"Come here," Elrond said, suddenly gentler, and reached out to grab him by his shoulders. Legolas' reaction was violent.

"Leave me alone!" he screamed, smacking hard into Elrond's chest, like he was pitching a fit. "Let me go!"

"Legolas, don't fight me."

"Let go of me!"

"Legolas-"

"I wish you had never come to know me! I wish you would leave to the Havens that I may never SEE you again! Why couldn't- it would be better that Edren were **dead**, all right! I wish you'd leave my life ALONE!" His fists pounded fiercely against the elven lord's shoulders and chest. His words were cruel, but he seemed to simply be shouting anything that entered his head.

Aragorn, unable to hold back any longer, ran forward, grabbing the prince by the shoulders, and began to shout, "Legolas, stop it! Hauta!"

But Elrond's arms closed tightly around the thrashing elf, and though Legolas' body fought in rebellion at the touch, he continued to hold him tight. "It's all right. It's all right, young one. Don't fight me…"

"I hate- I wish you'd leave, I wish…I-" Legolas' voice began to break down, and at that moment, his knees buckled and he sank to the floor. Steadily, carefully, the elven lord and his son sank with the him, Elrond collecting him securely into his arms, Aragorn wrapping his embrace tightly around his friend's shaking shoulders.

"H- doesn't remember," Legolas shuddered into Elrond's velvet robes.

"Iston," Elrond whispered.

"I've known him my whole- my whole life, a-and he doesn't remember me!"

"Shh…let it go."

"And after all he's…all he did for me, and I…"

"It's not your fault."

"H-he doesn't-"

"I know."

"…doesn't know me anymore."

"Let it go, Legolas…"

Legolas cried until his chest couldn't handle his tears anymore. Since the moment he'd realized Edren was alive, relief had become fear, fear had become anger and now anger crumbled into an aching throb in his heart that felt as though it would never leave.

Elrond rocked him gently, and Aragorn pressed his forehead to the back of the prince's golden head, whispering, "It's okay, mellon-nin. It'll be all right…we'll think of something."


	8. Picking up the Pieces

**Chapter 8**

**Picking up the Pieces**

_thump…thump…thump…_ Legolas' boot fell heavily against the wall, paused, swung back, and fell again. _thump…thump…thump…_ The dirt sprinkled down, dusting his makeshift bed of straw and a blanket with even more debris than was all ready on it. He didn't really care. _thump…thump…_ In fact, he couldn't care less. _thump…thump…_

Everything was a haze- a blank. The last few hours were like mist; every event blended into the next one, and all that could be seen through the fog was a face. The one that haunted him over these blank hours with their uncharacteristic features. The face of Edren.

_thump…thump…thump…_

He remembered vaguely Aragorn and Lord Elrond dragging him into this room, when he refused to rise from the floor. At the time, he'd been too exhausted to reject the help. His limbs were fatigued, and rightly so. That did not excuse his not speaking to them as they lay him down, though. That was something else entirely. His spirit was tired as well.

_thump…thump…thump…_

Legolas' head shot up, his foot resting against the wall. This sound had not been his making; someone was at the door. "Who is it?" He was surprised he even bothered to answer, but so little had happened in the last hours, he forgot himself.

There was no reply; the visitor simply let himself in. "Hello, Legolas." Aragorn didn't smile, but advanced across the small room, and sat on the sort-of bed beside the elf. "How are you?"

Legolas shrugged, and swung his head back around, slamming his heal against the dirt wall again in his tiresome fashion.

_thump…thump…thump_

"Elrond and I are worried about you, I hope you know."

_thump…thump…_

"Listen. I know it hurts, I cannot imagine how…but you could help me understand. I could help you, if you'd let me."

_thump…thump…thump…_

A pause.

_thump…_

"Edren's asking for you."

_THUMP…THUMP…thump…_

Aragorn's eyes fixed on his friend's face for a long moment. "He feels horrible. He thinks you hate him."

_THUMPthump…thump…_

The human's hand shot towards the elf, closing fast around his ankle, and stopping the irritating thumping. "Confound it, Legolas, when are you going to stop acting like a child?"

Legolas froze, shocked by both the move and the words that seemed to come with simultaneous unexpectancy. He still didn't reply.

"Do you know how long you've been in here? Five. Hours."

Legolas blinked. Now _that_ he didn't know. He waited for Aragorn to continue, but it seemed the human wouldn't go on until he dragged a response out of his friend.

"I lost…" he muttered at last.

"Yes, that's right, you lost someone, Legolas. Or half lost someone anyway. And I'm sorry." He let go of the elf's ankle, and caught his gaze, holding it tightly in his own. "I am so, so sorry about Edren. Really and truly, I would give anything to give him memory back. But I can't, Adda can't...and you can't either."

Legolas shook his head, looking back at the wall. "This doesn't help me, Aragorn."

"No, no, _this_ doesn't help." The human gestured at the walls around him, his voice rising again. "Locked away in a room with no light? Is this _you_ now, Legolas? Is it?"

"What do you want me to do, Aragorn?" Legolas' head snapped around, his hands flying open in a sign of exasperation. "Want me to tell you that I'll be fine, that I'll get over it? That I can just _move on_ somehow!"

"YES!" Aragorn nodded his head emphatically. "Legolas, just hours ago, you thought he was dead. He's not!"

"Well, it'd be better if he were, Estel…"

Aragorn looked scared for just a moment. "You don't mean that."

"Maybe I don't," Legolas admitted, Aragorn's expression causing him to back down. "But I…I'm sick of losing everything I care about! It's as though the moment I've decided to care, I lose it!"

"I know it's hard-"

"No you have no idea how hard it is."

"So - what, you're just going to not care about anything anymore?"

There was a pause. A silence.

"I don't know," Legolas said at last, and turned his head back to the wall.

_thump…thump…thump…_

"What about your father?"

_thump…thump…_

"What about Edren?"

_thump…thump…_

"What about me, Legolas? Do I mean nothing to you?"

"Of course you do, it's just-" _thump…thump_ "…you could never understand, Estel, I have eternity to deal with the things I've lost. For you, time means something. Time will change you. It will not remove my scars. Ever."

"Yes it will, that's what hope is for."

"You have **no** idea what it's like to lose your past, get it back, and then lose it again! **I** barely know who I am anymore either!"

Aragorn shook his head. "You're stronger than this."

"No I'm not."

"You were."

"Well, then I guess I'm not anymore." He turned his head away.

_thump…thump…thump…_

He'd broken his friend's heart with those words…he shouldn't have said them. But he wasn't taking them back either.

Aragorn stood, walked to the door, opened it- then paused. "You know you're wrong. I _do_ understand what you're going through. See…I think my friend has forgotten me as well."

The door closed loudly, leaving Legolas in the darkness with his thoughts.

When would he stop losing those he cared about?

When would he stop hurting?

When would things stop going so utterly **wrong**!

_thump…thump…_ Bengwiil. _thump…thump…_

"_Seventy-eight."_

_thump…thump…_ Mornaeg. _thump…thump…_

"_Eighty-four."_

_thump…thump…_ Edren. _thump…thump…_

"_Eighty-seven."_

"_Now I wish I had not suggested this pastime."_

_thump…thump…_ Life. _thump…thump…_

"_Ninety-two."_

_thump…thump…_ Death. _thump…thump…_

"_Ninety-five."_

"_I wish you would not count the stairs like that. 'Tis long enough a staircase without you counting how long!"_

"_Strider!"_

Laughter. Echoing over the stairs of Gabil Gûndu. They were going to make it. They were going to find the daylight. Aragorn was going to pull him through again. He could see the stairs giving way to daylight. The darkness was gone.

_Without a word, the friends sunk onto the soft earth, and lay there without speaking. It was again quiet between them, but the silence was welcoming and not quite absolute, with the sounds of Mirkwood's inhabitants stirring all around them, and the leaves rustling in a subtle breeze. All was still, but it was not the deafening silence that had crushed them underground. It was peaceful._

And then he was here. In the dark. Dirt spilling into his boots, just as doubt spilled into his mind.

_thump…thump…_ Aragorn.

Silence.

"What am I _doing_?"

"Coming to your senses."

Legolas whirled, his hand flying to his daggers by instinct.

"And _not_ killing me, I hope."

Sitting cross-legged, back braced against the door, sat Aragorn, a quiet smile on his face. He hadn't left after all.

"Okay." Legolas sighed, defeated. "Say it."

"What?"

"Come on, you know you want to."

"Okay. I told you so."

"Thank you…but you can get that smug look off your face."

"What look?"

"_That_ look."

"I'm not making a look-"

"You most definitely are- you're making this look." Legolas attempted to imitate it.

"I can't see you, so I don't know what you're talking about. But I'm sure you look very silly right now."

Legolas let go a short, breathy laugh, Aragorn stood, crossed the room, and reached out a hand to help the elf to his feet. "Let's go."

"Okay." Legolas took it, and stood. "I have a friend I need to see."

- - - - -

"Edren?"

The elf's head shot up. His elven senses were clearly getting back into gear; Legolas hadn't been _that_ quiet. "Hey, easy," he sat slowly down on the bed, trying his hardest to smile.

"I'm- I'm sorry, about what happened-"

Legolas was practically shaking his head before Edren spoke. "No, no it wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault, except mine."

Edren was going to dispute that, and Legolas could tell, so he barreled on. "I- I brought something for you." He pulled out the cloth bag, handing it to Edren.

The other elf opened the bag curiously, and pulled out two, small, leather-bound books. He looked up quizzically.

"They're journals- ones you wrote. You wrote them for me, but I thought- maybe they'd help you remember."

Edren nodded, smiling his first genuine smile. "Thank you, Legolas, I- I really _do_ want to remember."

"Oh, I know you do. I know." And Legolas smiled back encouragingly.

There was a slightly uncomfortable pause, while Edren pretended to be very interested in the two books in his hands. Legolas figured it was time to go. He rose slowly, hoping maybe to avoid saying any sort of "see you later, then" all together.

But Edren looked up as he rose, "Legolas, I have a question."

Legolas smiled gently back. "Okay, go ahead."

"I…" he paused, and then blurted, "do I have a family?"

Legolas' smile faded into a sadder one. _Oh Valar…Thernad. _He hadn't thought of this. "Yes."

Edren's face paled.

"No children, but you have a wife."

"I see. Well were- _are_ we…in love?"

"Very much," Legolas nodded for emphasis.

And then Legolas left, without comment, as Edren sat in his thoughts. This was going to be harder than he thought.


	9. In the Clear

**Chapter 9**

**In the Clear**

"Is it much deeper?" Legolas attempted to sound mildly curious, but Aragorn heard the edge in his voice. They'd been steadily descending into the deep underground four several minutes, and the increasing ground-pressure was making Legolas' adrenaline level rise.

Aragorn gave his friend's arm a squeeze as Elrond replied from ahead of them, "Not much further now, Legolas, don't worry."

Legolas opened his mouth to reply something like 'I'm not', but Elrond cut him off.

"I don't care for the underground either. But this is the safest way."

At last, their downward trek ended, and they were standing in yet another dirt room. It was amazingly large for such a depth, and Aragorn had to blink hard to adjust to the light. "How do you keep it so bright down here?"

"Just a lot of torches, my friend. We need the light more than anyone down here." Aragorn turned to see who had replied, and saw an elf whom he hadn't expected to see again.

He smiled his surprise, but Legolas was the first to announce the newcomer's name. "Harain!" he cried, now smiling as well.

Harain tilted his head. "My Prince Legolas."

Legolas sighed in relief, and pressed forward, offering the traditional elven greeting of his hand against his chest. "Long have I wished to thank you, my friend."

Aragorn nodded in agreement. "Tirniel has told us of your bravery, the night the King used Bengwiil against me."

A shadow passed over Harain's eyes as he turned his gaze to Legolas. "Your father was unwise- foolish, Highness. But I was wrong to call him heartless. I think- he _did_ believe…well. I'm sure you understand the ways of the King more than anyone."

Legolas nodded silently, and waited for Harain to lead. He was waiting to say something besides the traditional hello's. But Harain seemed determined to stand on ceremony and have _Leoglas _lead. Legolas opened his mouth to ask, but Aragorn beat him there.

"What is it you wish to tell us, Harain? I feel that is why Elrond brought us down here." He switched a quick glance at Elrond, and the expression on the lord's face told him he was correct.

"We have no time to mince words," Harain said lightly, motioning them to follow him across the room. At its center was a veritable crowd of tables, boxes, barrels and sacks full of various greenery. Harain tossed an edgy look Legolas' way before he started talking.

"We have found a cure for Bengwiil."

Legolas' breath gasped into his chest as though someone had pushed him suddenly into cold air. Aragorn's mouth dropped open, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"A cure?" Legolas said at last, his voice low, not daring to be excited yet. "A real- real cure? Tested, proven effective?"

"Proof is relative, Highness, and it's hard to say under what circumstances it works, and if it could possibly _not_ work. But- yes. As far as we can now tell, it is a real cure."

"What- what is it?" Aragorn stammered, finally getting his mouth to shut.

"The answer was thanks to our own Edren, Highness."

Legolas' excitement faded a little, but he didn't say anything.

"When Mornaeg shot him with this arrow," he lifted the delicate weapon from the table beside him, showing it to Legolas, as though he wanted him to take and inspect it.

Legolas' heart reeled, eyes fixed on the arrowhead.

Harain looked down. "I- apologize we haven't cleaned the blood from it, but we needed it for testing…well, anyway," awkwardly, he put it back on the table. "Mornaeg mixed Salab and Bengwiil in equal portions, and put the result on this arrowhead. The Bengwiil, of course, was meant to kill him."

There was a pause.

"But- why mix Salab into it?" Legolas asked.

Harain wouldn't look at him, and pretended to straighten a row of glass vials on the tabletop.

"The Salab was meant to enter the nervous system through his neck, Legolas." Legolas turned to look at Elrond. "So it would appear he died on the spot."

"What…?" the prince's voice was small.

"He wanted to see your reaction to Edren's death, and Bengwiil is too slow-working. That's why he shot him through with arrows when we left. Just to be sure." Aragorn finished, looking to Elrond, asking if he was right. He was.

"Ah…" was Legolas' only response.

"The Bengwiil did its work- it attempted to kill him, but unfortunately, Salab is twice a strong. It wasn't wise to mix them evenly, because the Salab soon overcame the Bengwiil in his system, and then began healing the arrow wounds." Harain summed-up.

"It was a long series of experiments," he continued, "that brought us to Salab. From various accounts from Legolas, Edren, Thranduil and a few others in The Halls, I realized that each time someone improved much in their Bengwiil-induced state - _not_ counting when we attempted to heal it with more Bengwiil - Salab had been involved.

"We had many failed experiments, I'm afraid. Tiriniel has been assisting me for these past weeks in getting the sick from the Healer's to here, that I may attempt to heal them. We lost a few…Aryto hurt the most."

"Tirniel's assistant?" Legolas asked.

Harain nodded. "Tirniel assisted in the burials of Maranos, Haithin, Rhinthûr and Meliim. All died of Bengwiil, all under his care. But then the Prince Legolas came along, telling him that though Estel appeared dead, he was not. Tirniel blamed himself, thinking perhaps those elves could have been saved. Aryto desperately wished his mentor to relieve himself of that blame, and pleaded to be allowed to test the Bengwiil on himself, to prove that Tirniel was capable of healing it.

"Tirniel, of course, said no, but that night, Aryto tested it anyway. I believe you saw the result."

Legolas and Aragorn nodded, remembering when they'd awoken to find Aryto seemingly dead, and then half-crazed with Bengwiil.

Harain nodded back at them. "Tirniel brought him here in person, he was so worried about him…but we lost him. Tirniel was broken by the ordeal, and I cannot tell you how guilty I have felt." He sighed. "And _then_ we sent Nyarim out on his horse, thinking he was healed, but he came back a few days ago, worse than ever."

"I thought he'd acted strange when I met him in the forest," Legolas mused to himself.

"I didn't pull _all_ the pieces together, until we heard the Lord Elrond had been taken by the orcs."

"Yes!" Aragorn turned suddenly. "How on Middle Earth did that happen?"

Elrond looked slightly amused. "Is it so impossible to imagine someone besting me, ion-nin?"

Aragorn grinned back, and shook his head. "Well, I mean- yes, but it just doesn't make sense. What were you doing in the woods, anyway?"

"Ah." Elrond shook his head. "That…I don't really want to bring that up just now, Estel. But I can tell you that the orcs had both Mornaeg and the element of surprise. Between the two, they managed to overtake me fairly quickly."

Aragorn's eyebrows knit, as he had a hard time imagining his father taken down by the orcs.

"Do not fret," the lord told him gently. "I wasn't with them long. Two of the dwarves working with Harain were on their way back from The Halls, and they saw the whole thing. One stayed, and followed us through the woods, and the other came back to inform Harain."

"The Dwarf who stayed also saw Edren's 'death' as well as your capture, and quickly reported back to me as well." Harain went on. "We were in a hurry to get the Lord Elrond out of the orc's custody, for they were all ready on their way to Mandossea, so a group of the dwarves accosted them at a roadway, and managed to get the Lord Elrond away.

"We all ready had a dwarf inside Mandossea, attempting to get the other elves away. He was eager to assist you and Estel as well."

"Anorc," said Legolas.

"Pinwen," clarified Aragorn, and Harain nodded, smiling slightly.

"When the Lord Elrond arrived, he assisted us with our work, and within days, helped me pull all the pieces together, leading us to the possibility of Salab as a cure. We had retrieved Edren by that time, and found him alive, but barely hanging on. The Salab was having a hard time healing his arrow wounds, due to traces of Bengwiil left in his system.

"It was amazing. Something had killed off almost all of the Bengwiil in his system! We studied the arrowhead for quite sometime, and eventually decided. We tried Salab. And- as far as I can see, it has worked. According to our studies, well…it's the cure." Harain shrugged somewhat anticlimactically.

Legolas nodded slowly. "Is Edren the only test subject?"

"No," Harain said quickly. "We used it on Nyarin as well, and he has recovered well."

Legolas nodded, trying to look pleased, but the shadow would not leave his face.

"Legolas?" Aragorn said, so low that, were it not for the precise sound of the 's', the other two elves wouldn't have even known he was talking. "Edren?"

Legolas looked at him, feeling like a spoiled child as he nodded. "I just…can't help but think that if Salab was such a wonderful cure, it could have kept him from losing his memory."

"Well, it may yet come back," Harain put in, a little too cheerfully for his personality, making the words stick out oddly. It sounded a little too much like purposeful optimism. "He has only been awake, without his memory for a few days. He could recover."

Legolas didn't reply. _Obviously_ Edren's recovery of his memory was something he wanted. He ached for it. But he wasn't dumb enough to get his hopes up about it, and he rather wished everyone would stop trying to make him believe it was a possibility. _Then you really shouldn't have brought up Edren again, Legolas_, he told himself, and it was enough to keep him from brooding on the subject any further.

They made their way back up the stairs in silence. Harain said he had more work to do, liquidizing the Salab into vials, for more efficient use, so it was once again just the two friends and Elrond. When they reached the top of the stairs, Elrond said quietly, as he led them down the next hall, "Your brothers must be worried sick, Estel. We should make plans to away back to the Halls."

"Indeed," Aragorn said automatically, though he wasn't exactly listening. He'd never noticed it before, but- the walls weren't exactly flat. They were bowed to the middle, sort of like a rippling shape. No, wait, they were bowed at the top, and the middle arched outwards. Hang on, they were- were the moving? They were! They were rippling, bucking, calling him closer. _Take a look, Aragorn…watch it move…_

"Estel?" He could feel his father and friend looking at him. Their eyes burned into the back of his head, but he didn't look around. His hand was outstretched to the wall, trying to steady it. It kept rippling and rippling, bucking like a wave in the wind. It wouldn't hold still!

"Aragorn?" The voice was distant, echoing strangely around him. A high, tinny sound that reverberated in his ears, leaving behind an insistent ringing.

"The walls," he said, and it seemed to take him forever to form the words. "They're…won't be still- water. The walls are-" His head spun crazily, and he was slamming hard into the wall, as though it had suddenly become the floor. He was shocked at how firm it was, considering it'd been moving like a wave. He'd expected something soft and pliable.

Words were flying around him from both Legolas and Elrond. They were on either side of him, half dragging, half carrying. "What's wrong with him?"

"He has not yet been dosed for his Bengwiil."

"Why not?"

"That's what we were on our way to do, I have a vial from Harain downstairs. I may need some help, Legolas."

"Who will hold Aragorn down?"

"You're right. Binwen! Binw- here, you take him, can you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Lie him down on his bed, and try to keep his head cool. Binwen!"

"Hang on, Estel, help is finally on the way. We'll fight this cure together, you and I, all right? All right? Aragorn, can you answer me?"

Everything was fading, darkening…deepening.

"I've learned my lesson, Strider, and I'm not giving up anymore. Just hang in there."

Black.

- - - - -

"Wake up, Aragorn…Can you hear me? If you can hear me, open your eyes…Aragorn?"

"I feel…terrible."

Legolas was laughing. "The numbness will dull off in a moment, so Harain says."

"Does that mean he's used Salab on me?"

"Yes."

"Did it work?"

The elf held his hand against the side of Aragorn's head, as he whispered excitedly, "Yes."

Aragorn opened his eyes at last. Legolas was sitting over him, his eyes brilliantly blue in the dim lighting, his face alit with relief.

"You're cured, Estel. Your father checked you all over before he left, and he says there isn't- there isn't _any_ Bengwiil in you anymore, Aragorn. Not any."

Aragorn felt his own heart beginning to reflect what was in Legolas' eyes. Peace. "Then- it's over? The fight against Bengwiil, it's really over."

Legolas thought a moment. "Well, no it's not over. But making it end is now a possibility, which is a major step. Big enough for me"

Aragorn grinned. "Me too. But what about your home? All the damage there?"

At that, the light in Legolas' eyes dimmed.

"What?"

He didn't reply.

"Legolas, what?"

He swallowed. "Lord Elrond- thinks that someone in The Halls has been working with Mornaeg."

Aragorn's face paled. "Why?"

"Well, it was someone from the Halls who tipped him off about going into the woods to look for something. Plus, Mornaeg seems to know a lot more than he ought about yours and my comings and goings. It's also the same someone who directed you and I into Mornaeg's room to find Edren."

"Who, Legolas?"

He covered his face with his hands and groaned quietly. "Thernad."


	10. Going Away

**Chapter 10**

**Going Away**

Aragorn lay in the silence, staring at the ceiling. Legolas had left about an hour ago to speak with Elrond. He said he'd be right back, but it took a long time before the door opened, and light came pouring into his dark room. "Legolas-"

"Easy, don't rise," the prince insisted, hurrying to press the human back into his bed.

"Where's Adda?"

"He's coming in to check on you in a moment."

Aragorn nodded, and neither of them spoke for a few moments. Then, "Do you think it was Thernad? Could she- really have helped Mornaeg get to you and I?"

Legolas sighed and shook his head. "I don't know…"

"Well when you first told me, you mentioned that she tipped my father off about looking for something in the woods? What was that about?"

"Lord Elrond was trying to help Daurrè find someone, and Thernad told him to look for that someone in the woods. She said she'd seen him run that way, and Elrond went to find him." Legolas shrugged.

"Who was Daurrè trying to find?"

Again, he shrugged. "No idea, Elrond didn't mention it."

"But Legolas- remember when you and I came out of the room under the tower room? And we found that piece of paper? Daurrè was up there looking for someone."

"Yes…well- but he was looking for Edren."

"Edren?"

"Yes, remember? We asked him if he'd seen Edren, and he said, 'oh, you're looking for him too?'."

"Well it's certainly not Edren who was assisting Mornaeg-"

"But perhaps it is Daurrè," Legolas finished distantly.

"No, no it can't be Daurrè," Aragorn insisted immediately, shifting his position amongst the pillows beneath him. "You've known him almost all your life, Legolas."

"But he didn't know Mornaeg back then; back when he went mad."

"Was Thernad?"

Legolas sighed, leaning against the pillar of Aragorn's bed. "No."

There was a pause before he spoke again. "I don't know, I don't know anything about my father, Edren, Thernad, Daurrè, I clearly didn't know Harain or Tirniel, I _certainly_ didn't know Mornaeg, and the only person I was right about so far are you, your father, and your brothers!"

"Well don't let it bother you so much," Aragorn soothed. "You may yet be correct about most, even all of them! Maybe it isn't Thernad _or_ Daurrè. Maybe it is the person Daurrè was looking for who went into the woods. It's possible."

"Yes it's possible," he responded automatically, but didn't sound convinced.

"And anyway, you _do_ know Edren, you just need to help him get to know you again. It'll work out, you'll see. Maybe you'll spark his memory, and everything will just come flooding back."

"You think?"

"Yes I do."

Legolas opened his eyes again with a dim smile in them. "Thanks."

"Sure."

The door opened, and both friends looked to see Elrond walk into the dark room. "How are we doing?"

"I'm okay, Ada," Aragorn answered as he allowed his father to press his warm hand against the human's forehead, cheeks, and then the back of his neck.

Legolas smiled as Aragorn appeared temporarily as a little boy in his father's arms. Then the elven lord stood back, and the vision disappeared.

"The fever's gone," Elrond confirmed, not bothering to hide his relief. "I think you're going to make it this time, Estel."

Aragorn raised his eyebrows as a sign of "oh goody", and Legolas shook his head with a quiet laugh.

"I need to go for sometime," Elrond told him.

That got Aragorn's attention. "Where?"

"I cannot keep your brothers in the dark like this, Estel. And Harain does not need my assistance at present, whereas almost everyone at The Halls is in disarray. I could be much more useful there."

Aragorn noticed vaguely that Legolas seemed very uncomfortable, but his eyes were only for his father for now. "When will you back?"

"Soon, Estel," he promised, putting a hand to his cheek again. "Soon."

Aragorn nodded, and then noticed Legolas standing up.

"They can only need so much assistance before the Lord Elrond will be required back here," he was saying, while he stood awkwardly beside Aragorn's father. "He, umn…we won't be long, Estel."

"We?" Aragorn replied vacantly. "Y- you're leaving me too…" by the Valar! He hadn't meant to say it like _that_! But the damage was done, and Legolas shied away from the response, nodded guiltily.

"My- father needs me, Aragorn. I cannot abandon him, and hide away down here."

"Sure, and you're running away so you don't have to stay underground with me." Aragorn's mouth hung open in shock, and he covered it with a shaking hand. "I- didn't mean…"

Legolas blinked in surprise, trying to think of a way to respond, hurt probing in his pupils. Luckily for the both of them, Elrond intervened.

"No, don't blame yourself, Estel. Long has Bengwiil attacked your mind and poisoned your thoughts. It may take awhile to erase them."

Aragorn nodded, accepting the explanation, but feeling horrible anyway.

"We won't be gone long," Legolas reiterated, pressing forward. "And we'd take you, but your father says you're not well enough yet to travel, you're still recovering. But Harain will take good care of you."

"All right," Aragorn tried to look okay with the situation. "Well…safe journey."

Elrond kissed him on the forehead, Legolas approached him slowly, gave his shoulder a squeeze, muttered, "Bye," and the two disappeared.

In the dark, in the silence, Aragorn whispered, "Goodbye, Legolas." He tried to talk himself out of feeling bad, but Legolas and him hadn't been apart by choice in so long…it felt wrong. Something just felt wrong.

- - - - -

Leoglas and Elrond stood in the main hall of Gabil Gûndu, Leoglas' eyes scanning the doors. "Which one was Edren's?"

Elrond pointed, and Legolas walked towards it, but paused. "Elrond, does it…feel wrong leaving Aragorn here?"

"No, Legolas, don't worry."

Legolas nodded, and walked through the door.

"Edren?" he said quietly, shutting the door behind him.

"Legolas, hello," came the cordial response.

"How are you?" Legolas asked, sitting down on the edge of his friend's bed.

"I'm quite well, thanks," Edren smiled. "I've just been singing."

"Really? Which ones do you remember?"

"Oh, none of them," Edren said quietly, causing Legolas' heart to sink. "I was- singing with them." He pointed to the ceiling.

Legolas looked up, his eyebrows furrowed. "Can you hear the stars from down here?"

Edren nodded, picking up the pen and paper lying beside him. "Can't you?"

"I confess I cannot," Legolas sighed. "Too many unhappy memories of the underground to be still and hear them, I guess." He surveyed Edren's disheveled bed…paper, pens, a few books…the pile of journals Legolas had given him were in a pile on the far-side of the bed.

"Soo…" Leoglas leaned over his friend, and grabbed the one on top, while Edren wrote on his paper. "How far did you get?"

"Hmn?"

Legolas indicated the pile of journals.

"Oh," Edren broke eye contact with him. "I didn't."

Legolas paused. "Why not?"

"I went through some of them, and…I don't want them, Legolas, but thank you."

"You- don't want them?" was his blank reply.

"I don't like him, the Edren in those books. He did horrible things to you, Legolas."

Legolas shook his head in alarm. "No, no he didn't, Edren- you didn't."

"Yes, I did, I- I betrayed your trust, I lied to you, I- I'm glad I don't remember it, because in those journals, I am a heartbroken former friend, and I hate it."

"No, Edren, it's not true! You did all that for me, don't you see? I would have died of my own terror if you had not saved me."

"Legolas, don't lie to me, all right!" Edren was yelling. Edren didn't yell, and Legolas flinched away from the alien sound. "I read it myself-" he snatched the journal out of his friend's hand, and began to read, "_I'm fed up with working around the truth, and so instead I want to say I'm sorry, Legolas. I am to blame for your hurt, for your confusion. I did little if anything to soothe your pain, really. I'm sorry for lying to you, my friend. What friend sacrifices truth for temporary peace? I did. A friend so unlike a friend, Legolas, I did._ These are my words! I wrote them!"

Legolas was silent.

"I hated myself, and I am that person no longer, thanks be to Illuvatar! I don't want to remember."

"Don't say that," Legolas whispered. "Please don't."

"I am this Edren no longer, and I'd like it if you'd take the journals back."

Legolas rose from the bed. "Elrond and I are leaving for awhile, and my friend Aragorn-"

"Elrond told me about him."

"Right, well he's here alone now, and I'd really appreciate it if you would keep him company."

"All right."

"And keep the journals."

"No, I don't want them, Legolas."

"You don't have to _read_ them, just keep them. They're yours anyway."

"Then they are mine to dispose of, are they not?"

"Oh by the Valar, Edren, just keep the JOURNALS!"

The sound of noise not being used reverberated off the walls over and over, waiting for voices to break it. "Just…" Legolas muttered, looking at the floor, biting back emotion. "Just keep them."

The prince turned on his heal, swung the door opened, and used all his will-power not to slam it behind him. Out in the hall, Elrond was standing and looking concerned.

"I'm all right," Legolas murmured, and they went to the stables without further comment.

- - - - -

Aragorn had been lying in his bed, eyes opened, and heart pounding in disappointment for far too long. _Stop moping that you couldn't go with them, and do something, Estel…_ He sat up in bed, and slowly swung in legs over the side, standing, and approaching the door. Well, he hadn't fallen over yet.

He swung the door open, and was greeted by dim light coming from the end of the tunnel. He walked towards it. _This isn't so bad,_ he thought, and for awhile, forgot about Elrond and Legolas' leaving.

He made his steady way down the tunnel, towards the light, watching his feet now and then, to be sure he didn't step on any rocks. Eventually, he reached the end of the tunnel, and following familiar sites only, he found his way to the main corridor, off of which most of the rooms led.

He hesitated a moment, and then, on an impulse, he made across the entryway, and opened the door just across from him. He smiled as he saw what he was expecting to; "Hello, Edren."

The elf bolted upright, surprised by the sudden company, and smiled hesitantly. "Aragorn…?"

"That's right," the human moved forward to the side of Edren's bed, still smiling. "How are you?"

"I am well, hannon le."

A moment of silence; not uncomfortable, just a little bit obvious, was all. Aragorn broke it. "Did you see Legolas before he left?"

Edren looked suddenly uneasy. "I…yes."

Aragorn's eyes moved to the rumpled journals sprawled over the floor. "Wasn't a cheerful parting, hmn."

Edren was first surprised by, then appreciative of the abruptness of the observation. "No. Not exactly."

"Legolas," Aragorn sat casually on the edge of the bed, "is a curious friend sometimes. He wants what's best for people."

"With a vengeance," Edren put in, and then had to laugh when Aragorn did.

"Yes, yes, sometimes," Aragorn laughed, and then simmered slowly to a vague sigh. "He wants to have you back, but more than that, he wants _you_ to have you back. He's gone most of his life without entirely knowing who he is. He doesn't want that for you."

"But these books, Aragorn," Edren lunged over the side of the bed, resurfacing with three rumpled journals. "Listen to all the things I did!" He opened his mouth to read aloud, but Aragorn shook his head, putting a hand over the page.

"You know how you said Legolas wants the best for people?" He smirked slightly, "With a vengeance?" Edren nodded, putting the book down. "Well…that's more or less _exactly_ how you were. I didn't know you, Edren, but I think I can safely say you are the most self-deprecating elf of Legolas' acquaintance."

"How could you know that, not knowing me?"

Aragorn met Edren's eyes abruptly. "Because I've never heard him so defensive of someone older than him. He cared too much about you to let you hurt yourself." He didn't wait for a reply, but stood from the bed and said, not unkindly, but suddenly, "Read them, Edren, or don't read them. But please, consider your reasons for either decision?"

Edren could only think to nod, and Aragorn returned the gesture, turning to the door. Before exiting, however, made a courteous bow, and said with a smile, "It was nice to meet you, Edren."

"Likewise, Aragorn."

And they departed friends.


	11. In the Black Light

**Chapter 11**

**In the Black Light**

Aragorn was making his way steadily back to his room. _I have to rest. I promised Ada I would. _About halfway down the long hallway, however, he noticed that one of the walls appeared to be corroding. Curiously, he approached it, and found that it wasn't a corrosion, but a cutaway room. It was roughly done, but upon leaning into its doorway, Aragorn discovered it was a makeshift closet.

He went to close the wood plank door, when an arm swung around his neck, and yanked him inside the closet. Aragorn's arm flailed over his head, trying to find the enemy's face, but a second person closed the door with a loud _BAM_ and all went dark, disorienting him.

He could hear his own breath panting in his ears, as he struggled silently with the stranger. His head began to spin from lack of oxygen, and he was wishing he hadn't left his bed.

At last, the struggle seemed to go suddenly out of him, and he relaxed reluctantly in the attacker's arms.

"Give up?"

Aragorn felt a chill go down his spine at the all-too-familiar voice, but ignored the question by asking another one. "What do you want, Mornaeg?"

"Rumor has it there is a cure for Bengwiil, human. I want it."

"Why, you're afraid that we'll cure all your sick employees, and you'll be out of business with that poison-farm you have in the forest?" Aragorn bit out spitefully. Somehow, it was easy to act unafraid when he was being irritable.

"Something like that. So where is it?"

"I forget."

The arm tightened around his neck, and he could hear angry breath rasping in his ear. "Where. Is it, human?"

"Why- don't you ask Legolas?" Aragorn chocked out. Mornaeg didn't know Legolas had left.

"I did."

"No you didn't,"

"Yes I did, and he wasn't very helpful either."

Aragorn's heart went cold.

"Well, it wasn't hard. We waylaid him outside the tunnel, and your wonderful Lord of a father didn't even notice. The questioning lasted about an hour…how long has he been gone?"

He stoically didn't reply.

"Hmn, well maybe it was two hours. I can't be sure. He was screaming so loud, I lost track of the-"

Aragorn twisted to the side, his hands flying to the place where he was pretty sure Mornaeg's neck was. It was then that the second person with him stepped in. He felt claw-like fingernails dig into his shoulders, and he cried out as the person behind him hauled him around in circle, and slammed him against the wall.

The nails let go suddenly, tearing the back of his shoulder and Aragorn cried out again, warm blood trickling down his back. He spun to hopefully beam the stranger over the head, but he was suddenly not there.

Thrown off balance yet again, Aragorn thrust his arms out in front of him, to catch his inevitable fall. He didn't fall, however, but was caught in the arms of Mornaeg again. Instantly he began to struggle, but Mornaeg forced him to the floor, pulling his left arm behind his back, and kneeling on its palm. Aragorn tried to pull his right arm free, but Mornaeg caught that fist as well, swinging it around his back, and pulling it to an awkward angle.

"I'm not simple, Mornaeg. Lord Elrond would notice if Legolas was taken," he spat, his voice strained from the knee in his back.

"Oh, yes, precious Adda doesn't make any mistakes."

"Not those kind of mistakes."

"I don't have time to dispute this with you, human, believe what you want to believe, but Lindo is in the midst of Mirkwood, shackled to a maple tree, where we can have regular visits and talk about our dear friend Edren, and my late brother."

Though determined to disbelieve him, Aragorn's thoughts recoiled at the mental picture. He opened his mouth to respond, though he didn't know with what words, but Mornaeg went on.

"Where is it, mortal? Where is the cure?"

"I don't remember," Aragorn said again, but now in truth, rather than spite.

"Mellon-nin," he heard the second figure step towards him, then kneel beside his head.

The cold sting of a steel point pressed lightly against his neck, and he had to resist the urge not to flinch.

"This is a devise with which you ought to be familiar. A Salab dart. The difference is, there is no Salab in this dart, but Bengwiil."

Aragorn's breath quickened, though he couldn't force a response.

"Yeees, you know what that is. You know aaall about it," Mornaeg purred. "Now. Where is the cure?"

_Harain can heal you, Aragorn, he has the cure. He'll fix you._

…_but I can't bear to feel that poison in me again…not without Legolas. Not without Adda._

"Which door do I take? You've been down there, because Lindo would not have left, if you were not well."

"I…don't remember," Aragorn pleaded, realizing as he searched his thoughts, that he really didn't.

"Ah, I see."

The steel began to sink into his skin.

"Wait! Mornaeg, wait."

It paused.

"I…I don't remember, but maybe I could lead you there?" _That'd be time enough to get help, surely…_

"And give you an opportunity to escape me? No. Tell me, human. I know it's in there somewhere, give me some hints."

_Don't give him hints. NO hints at all, is that understood? _"I…don't remember."

The dart sank into his neck suddenly, making him flinch, and then cry out as he felt the green liquid entering his system at a surprising rate.

"I don't- I don't remember!"

"I'm sure you do," Mornaeg whispered, as the dart withdrew from Argorn's neck, empty. "Just think, all right? Were there stairs?"

"I don't remember."

"Oh. You think this is over? There's more where this came from, don't worry. Mellon?"

The second stranger rose from his knees, paused a moment, and then sank back down beside Aragorn. The _thud_ and concurrent _clink_ of steel echoed dully through the closet, as a bag of what Aragorn could only assume were more darts dropped to the floor.

A second steel point was soon against his neck, and his breath hitched into his chest in fear. "Please, I don't remember…I don't-"

"Were there stairs?"

"I don't know."

It broke the skin.

_Harain can heal you, Aragorn, he'll heal you. He has the cure._

Mornaeg seemed to be reading his thoughts. "You think your elven healer will fix you, mortal? I'll tear these halls to pieces with my orcs and find the cure. I'll destroy it. And who will save you then? There will be no relief for your poisoned body this time, human, so tell me what I want to know. Were there stairs?"

"If you're so willing to tear the halls down looking for it, you don't need my help!"

"I prefer it this way."

The dart pressed further into his flesh, and his chest shuddered at the sensation of steel.

"Yes! Yes, there were stairs, there were." _There are lots of stairs down here. That's not helpful at all._

"Good, human, good. Now. Did they go up or down?"

_Don't answer, don't answer…_

"Up or down, human?"

"I don't know."

The sickening feeling of Bengwiil sweeping over his system attacked him again, and he bit back the temptation to cry out. As second dart was almost instantly where the old one's tip had been.

"We can keep this up all night, if you'd like," Mornaeg told him lazily, leaning close to his ear. "Come on, little Estel. You know you long to be free of your terror. Tell me about the cure?"

"No way."

"Even if it kills you?"

"Even if."

"Well, some things are worse than death, you know. Very well, have it your way. We'll just keep working here until you feel like telling us something, okay?"

The dart sank it, emptied, withdrew, and was replaced. Aragorn counted seven darts before he began to lose count. His body started to shudder uncontrollably, rejecting the poison.

_Harain will heal you, they'll never find the cure. They'll never find it._

Even so, his pulse began to pound in his head in fear, as more and more Bengwiil entered his all ready strained system.

At last, Mornaeg said causally, "Well, you've done well, little one, you made it through the whole sack. Oh, don't worry, we have more. Brought two extra sacks, just for the occasion. You probably have, I don't know, forty more darts to go through? Fifty? Even if your healer friends _do_ find you, you'll be dead, I guarantee it."

_He's exaggerating, he's making it up…he's just lying to you, Estel…_

"The stairs?"

"I don't know."

"Oh well, your funeral."

A new steel tip pressed against his neck, and his body protested loudly. He had to stop it, he had to!

"Mornaeg, please, I don't remember! I was only half awake when we went down- I had not been healed yet, I don't remember!"

"All right, all right. I believe you, mostly. But I know you know how the cure is made. Tell me about it."

"I…" Legolas wouldn't give up. Legolas would refuse to tell them a thing.

"Do you need Bengwiil to make it?"

He couldn't give in. He wouldn't respond, he wouldn't!

"Tell me, Estel…tell me what I need to hear."

_Adda calls me Estel, by the Valar, not you._

"Curse you."

The darts started all over again, and strange visions started dancing before Aragorn's eyes in the total darkness. Some memories, some nightmares, some things he didn't recognize. _Stop, please stop, please stop…_he could feel the poison working through his body space by space, one tiny dose at a time.

At last, they threw the second sack away, though it sounded as though it wasn't entirely empty. "Well, I think that's good enough for one day, human. I'll let you sit in here and think it over. I'll be back for the cure sooner or later, I promise you. And as for Lindo, I find you've set one foot outside these halls, and you're going to find a carcass shackled to a maple tree when you reach your destination. You hear me?"

He didn't reply.

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"Good."

Mornaeg's weight came suddenly off of Aragorn's back, and the air gushed back into his lungs, making him dizzy. Light flooded into the room when Mornaeg opened the door, increasing the spin in Aragorn's head, which he laid down on the floor, trying to get it to slow down.

"See you around, little one." The door shut. All was dark, still, quiet.

Aragorn forced himself to hands and knees, attempting to ignore the pounding in his head. His hands groped in the darkness for the door, feeling the wood beneath his numb fingers at last, and working his way to the handle. He pulled. He pushed. He rattled it, his heart's pace rising in panic.

But it was locked.

"Is there anyone there? Anyone? Hello!" He yanked on the handle over and over, rattling the stubborn door, until his strength gave out, and he slid down on the ground beside it, and began smacking his hands against it instead. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"

_Give up, Aragorn. There is no help coming for you._

"NO! No, leave me alone, leave me alone!"

_Your father…your friend…they have abandoned you, Estel. They're gone._

"I don't believe you, I _won't_ believe you! I hate you!"

_Hate. Yes, hate is good. Hate, Aragorn. The poison within you will subside if you can hate. Hate Elrond, hate Legolas._

"Bengwiil feeds on hate," Aragorn gasped into the wooden door. "I do not hate them."

_They've abandoned you to die of poison. There is no escape from death this time, Estel. You know it._

"Be silent, voice of the darkness! I will not be toyed by your lies!" His head spun crazily, as he continued to slam on the door. Visions were flooding his blinded eyesight once more…Edren. He was shot- dying…

"_Edren, no! You gave up your everything for me, you can't die now…not for me… you can't leave me with this debt, Edren, you can't!"_

_He loved Edren more than you. He'll be lost to despair, and leave you alone._

He could hear the sound of Legolas' boots thudding sulkily against the dirt wall.

_thud…thud…thud…_

"_You're stronger than this…"_

"Legolas…"

"_Not anymore."_

"He never left me…he never…"

_Is that really what you think, Aragorn? Is that really what you believe?_

His hands pounded against the door, head throbbing with words not his own. "Someone, anyone, can you hear me!"

_No one's coming. You're down a long, long hall, surrounded by nothingness. Darkness. Who will find you down here? Before it's too late…_

Panic flooded his chest, making his heart throb nauseatingly. "Legolas…please…help me, Legolas…"

_Legolas isn't here._

"Legolas!"

_He can't come._

_I don't care. _"Legoals, I'm here!" he slammed his fists against the door, crying his friend's name. It was the only thing he could think to say that made him feel like there was hope. "Where are you? Can you hear me!"

_He won't come, he can't come. He's gone. Gone. Gone. Gone…_

"Adda, I'm in here, can you hear me? Adda!" He was sobbing now, his fists numb with pounding against the wooden door, his body utterly exhausted. Tears spilled down his face, and he feebly thumped his hands against the door, and cried as loudly as he could, his voice steadily rising in pitch, "Adda! It's the Bengwiil- I can't fight it anymore, I can't fight it! Adda, where are you? WHERE ARE YOU?"

Aragorn didn't notice as his tired body slid to the floor, and his fists fell limply beside him, as his whole self surrendered to the visions and voices.

_You will die because of them._

"Le…las…"

_It is their fault you are here._

"Adda…"

_They have abandoned you for good._

"No…"

_Mornaeg will kill Legolas. For your silence, he will surely kill Legolas._

"No. I don't- believe you…"

_Die, Aragorn. Die again._

The door opened.

Light spilled into the dark closet, and Aragorn toppled limply out of its doorway. A voice echoed above him, but he couldn't make out a face, as his eyes opened halfway.

"Estel? Oh Valar…Estel, look at me." He vaguely felt someone's fingers pressed tightly to his throat, searching for a pulse for a moment, and then the figure cried, "Dyraed! Get down here, NOW!"

Footsteps echoed up the tunnel, and Aragorn's head lolled to the side, as the elf hovering over him (_it must be Harain…_) tried to gently lift him from the ground, despite the human's spasmodic twitching. "Hang on, Estel, I've got you. I've got you- Dyraed, quickly!"

"I…n-need…Adda." Aragorn's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his body went limp in Harain's arms. In his Bengwill-saturated mind, all was lost to black light, and gray shadows.


	12. Smart Girl

**Chapter 12**

**Smart Girl.**

"Why can't I see?" Aragorn's head tossed to the side, his hand flying to his face on an impulse, trying to clear the darkness.

A hand caught his gently, and he heard Harain's voice: "Woah, easy Estel. Let me get it."

Aragorn briefly became aware of something cold on his forehead, when Harain removed the cool cloth from over his head and eyes, stinging the human's retinas with light. Aragorn blinked hard, allowing his eyes to adjust to the, actually rather dim, torch light.

He looked at the healer, who was mixing some tea, and smiled. "Thank you for-" he stopped. Mornaeg. "Harain, Mornaeg is here…he's looking for the cure for Bengwiil, he's the one who poisoned me."

Harain was all ready nodding. "We assumed as much."

"He told me he was going to tear these halls apart to find it, if he had to."

The elf dipped the cool cloth in fresh water, and dabbed pensively at Aragorn's forehead. "Well you can't believe everything Mornaeg says, Estel. The fact is, he's every bit as terrified of getting lost down here as the next elf. He wouldn't dare start tearing things to pieces, not knowing where he may end up, what he may find. No, Mornaeg will need a plan of action, if not an actual map or guide for these tunnels before he tries to find the cure himself. He didn't just _want_ you to tell him where it was, he _needed_ you."

Aragorn blinked slowly. "Then…you know what he was after?"

"You were talking wildly in your poisoned state, it's common with Bengwiil. You said 'Mornaeg', 'I don't remember', and 'he can't find the cure' and well- we pieced the rest of the pieces together ourselves. Be assured, though. You're well out of danger now. This cure seems quite effective I'm pleased to report; more pleased than you know. You may experience slight relapses as you're fully recovering, but you're going to be fine."

Aragorn smiled gratefully, repeating his thanks, and then his mind trailed off a moment. Something that, just a few hours ago, he couldn't get out of his head if he _wanted_ to, had only just now recurred to him. "I have to go," he murmured, and began to push himself out of bed.

"Go where?" Harain's tone was parental.

"Legolas…I think he's in danger. I mean- I don't believe what Mornaeg said, I just- I don't know…"

"What did he say?"

Aragorn mumbled through what Mornaeg had said about the Prince's condition; that he was in the wood, shackled to a tree, that Mornaeg made regular visits to emotionally torment him. As he pulled his Ranger coat on, he was still saying, "I know I can't believe anything Mornaeg says, Harain, I know he was lying to me, but to run the risk that I'm wrong? I simply cannot do that."

Harain's gaze was steady as he replied, "What if the point of this, Estel, was merely to get you outside of these halls? Out of the protection of the elves and the dwarves…away from Bengwiil's cure. You would be a bargaining piece against your father, the Lord Elrond."

Aragorn wanted to argue, but Harain's words made a lot of sense. He nodded with a sigh. "Perhaps you're right. But I cannot risk I'm wrong, and let Legolas die. I have to at least look."

"Look where? Where would you even begin?"

"I have a few ideas; the closer I am to Mornaeg's "Mandossea" the more likely I am to find him. If I reach Mandossea and do _not_ find him, I will return. Don't worry, my friend," Aragorn added, seeing the unconvinced look on Harain's face. "I will not go alone."

- - - - -

"How close are we?"

"No way of telling…I remember this wood very vaguely, I'm afraid."

A long pause.

"Thank you for accompanying me, Edren. I dared not do this alone, but I know how hard it is for you to step out into the great depths of Mirkwood. I suppose, for you, it's like the first time, isn't it?"

"Oh, I don't know…it does seem vaguely familiar." Edren's eyes searched the trees with no hint of fear, but curiosity. "It's beautiful. I am…glad this is my home."

Aragorn smiled appreciatively, and they went on in silence for awhile, the only sound being the rustle of leaves under the horses' hooves. Steadily, he could feel something like foreboding building up in his chest. They must be getting closer to Mandossea.

"_Lindo is in the midst of Mirkwood, shackled to a maple tree…"_

Maple tree. Fantastic, that ought to be easy enough to find. Aragorn was practically dizzy with trying to look closely at every maple tree they passed. They were getting closer, now. Closer…closer…

It seemed like it had only been a half-hour since they left, and all ready Aragorn could make out smoke in the distance; they were almost to Mandossea. He felt something in his chest heave with relief. "He lied," he said, making Edren jump at the sudden sound.

"How do you know?"

"I just know, Legolas isn't here. Mornaeg lied." He looked at Edren and smiled, a little bashfully, feeling as though the atmosphere could be light now. "You can tell me I'm a total paranoid mortal being, if you like."

Edren smiled politely, "No thank you."

Aragorn laughed, his eyes searching the forest. "Well, I guess we'd best head back to-"

"Aragorn, look."

His head whipped around to see what Edren was pointing at. There, in the clearing to their left was an old, maple tree, tall and scraggly. Dangling from the upper branches…

"Aragorn…are those chains?"

The human was all ready off of his horse, crashing through the underbrush to the clearing. He came to a sudden halt as he saw at his feet several hideous metal tools, all tipped in blood. Beside them, a whip, a dagger, a burlap sack with small, dart-points sticking out of it…horror gripped Aragorn inside, and he kicked the brutal devices aside, running again for the tree, hearing Edren's quick footsteps behind him.

Sure enough, there were chains hanging from the topmost branches of the tree, at the end of the chains were manacles. He tilted the metal cuffs towards the light shining in between the trees, and saw the thin, dark lines across the manacle flash bright red. "Blood…Legolas' blood." Tilting them further towards the light, he saw small divots in the metal. He ran his fingers down them. They were fingernail markings.

Aragorn felt suddenly sick. He gripped the tree, attempting to steady himself, and soon felt Edren rush behind him, and try to keep him on his feet. "Legolas…" he was panting.

"Easy, easy."

"Legolas, what- what happened to you…I was sure he was lying, I was sure Mornaeg made it up, Edren, I was sure-"

"Be steady, Aragorn."

"I- I hate being right," he muttered, pressing his forehead against the sharp tree bark. "Legolas…Edren, we've got to find him."

"We will," Edren promised quietly. "Aragorn, it could be that Mornaeg put those chains and that whip here to make us _think_ that Legolas had been here."

"But what about the blood? And the other torture-devices, and all the…"

"The what?"

"The blood, and-"

"What blood?"

The human reached for one of the manacles reluctantly. "Right there, see? When you tilt it in the light, you can see small lines of…" Edren was puzzling at him. "Don't you see it?"

He started at Aragorn a long moment, a look of the most well-meaning concern on his face. "It's just…metal. Maybe it was a trick of the light-"

"What do you _mean_ 'trick of the light'?" He demanded, feeling a sudden chill race down his back. "What about the torture-devices?"

"The whip?"

"No, beside the whip, there, in a pile over there, right-" In the place where Aragorn had kicked all the hideous metal tools, there lay only a neatly coiled whip. Completely clean. His eyes swung back around to the chains. Just as he had feared, the blood was gone, and so were the nail-markings. Oh, Valar…

"Something's…going wrong, Edren."

"Maybe we ought to return to the Halls-"

"I don't understand, I saw them, I saw the blood, it was right _here_!"

"All right, Aragorn, you know what? You don't have explain anything to me. I'm sure there is a logical reason you saw what you saw. But I don't think Legolas was really here, and I _really_ don't think we ought to go to Mandossea looking for him."

"No…" Aragorn sighed. "No, neither do I. Come, we must hurry. Yes, _now_."

Edren was surprised by Aragorn's sudden urgency, but followed without question.

"I think I know what's wrong, and if I'm correct, I need to find my father."

"What do you think is wrong?"

"You know what I was thinking when we road this way searching for Legolas?" Aragorn's voice was working at a rapid pace. "The whole time? I thought _I hope Mornaeg was wrong. I hope he was lying._ I saw exactly what I feared I'd see: the weapons, the blood, the markings. And just when I feared I was losing my mind, when you couldn't see them, they disappeared. It's Bengwiil, it must be. And only Adda can fix it, so we've got to find him before things get out of hand."

"Wouldn't it be better to return to the Halls and await your father's return? All of the Saleb is there."

"Bengwiil works quickly, friend." He murmured, as they approached the horse's again.

"Harain can heal you, Aragorn."

"I know he can…" Aragorn found himself searching the sky for a moment, trying to decide if he wanted to tell Edren the honest truth. "But- Harain healed me once, and there is clearly still Bengwiil within my system. I- I want Adda to heal me."

"Oh yes, poor little boy missing his ada?"

Aragorn's sword was in his hand only seconds after Edren strung his bow. "Mornaeg, show yourself!" Aragorn cried, for he knew exactly who had spoken. Sure enough, a moment later, Mornaeg stepped out of the trees, hands in the air.

"I am unarmed, human. I come alone."

Aragorn just shook his head in wonder. "You cannot expect me to swallow your lies forever."

"Do you see anyone else here?"

He made no reply. No, it was definitely a trap in one way or another. But fine, he'd play into this ridiculous game if it bought him time to think. "So what do you want?"

"I want your surrender, human. I want you and little Arasen here to join me back to Mandossea."

"Well I have thought over your proposal, and no thank you," he replied dryly. What was Mornaeg playing at, anyway?

"I suppose we're at an impasse then. I will not leave till you come with me, and what can you do with me standing here? Ride away? But have you thought it through, Estel? What if this is your only chance to kill me? What if this, right now, is your only opportunity to destroy Legolas' greatest tormentor once and for all?" He smiled at the careful look Aragorn gave him. "Now you're thinking."

"I don't want to kill you."

"Oh, yes you do."

Aragorn stole a glance over his shoulder, then at Edren. Whatever the trap was, it was springing. That made him uneasy. "Mornaeg, I'm not going to kill you. There is nothing to keep me from riding away from you right now. I've evaded you once, I'll do it again."

"You're right, Estel."

"Stop calling me Estel."

A hint of the old smirk stirred across his face, "Very well, Estel." He started walking towards Aragorn. The human felt the urge to jump onto his horse begin riding off. Something rooted him to the spot. What was Mornaeg doing? Had he just completely lost his mind? Was it finally the time to get rid of him? Maybe he did really want to kill this evil elf…

He kept walking forward, that look of mock innocence still on him. He was closer. "Do you want to kill me, Estel?" Closer.

Run.

Run!

"Edren-" Something hard hit Aragorn flat across the back of his skull, sending him reeling to the ground like a felled tree. Blearily, he felt himself being hauled roughly to his feet, shoved this way and that- it was hard to tell what on earth was going on, but at a guess the orcs that had rushed up behind him were now tying him up.

By the time his head cleared, and he could put up a fight, it was more than too late. _Calm down. Just calm down. _He tried to think of what it was he ought to say… _You'll never get away with this_? Right. _Here we go again_? An understatement, but at least it was more what Aragorn was thinking.

In the end, Mornaeg spoke first anyway. "Don't worry, Estel, you won't have to put up with me long. I'm not stupid. I'll be killing you in pretty short order. I mean, I would _like_ to wait for Lindo, but I don't think we have that long. Wouldn't want you to have a chance to get away, would I?"

"Mornaeg-"

"Please, I don't want to hear it. Come, let's off to Mandossea." He glanced at Edren and his face became a mask of malice. "Good to see you again, Arasen. Don't suppose you remember me?"

Edren's mouth opened just slightly, but no sound came out.

"I didn't think so." And Mornaeg actually laughed, but it was neither jovial nor spiteful. It was cold. Fake. As the orcs lugged Aragorn and Edren from the ground, and began hauling them off into the woods, Aragorn wondered vaguely if Mornaeg had forgotten how to laugh the day his brother died.

- - - - -

"Father! Father, it is Legolas!"

"Elladan? Elrohir?"

"Elladan! Elrohir!"

Legolas and Elrond entered the Halls at a run, leaving their horses standing by the front gate rather than stabling them. The two reached the top of the stairs, and started towards the king's door. Legolas stopped short. He'd thought of something. "Lord Elrond, tell my father I'll be there in a moment, I just need to-"

"Go ahead."

"Thank you." He turned and ran back again the other direction, swinging into Edren's room instead. He came to a stop, head darted around wildly, until he saw Thernad standing on the balcony. He ran again. "Thernad!"

She turned, surprised to see him, hands resting lightly on the railing. "Legolas?"

"Thernad, we don't have much time, I need to talk to you." He grabbed her hand, steering her into the room again, and sitting them both on the edge of the bed. "I found Edren."

Her eyes brightened and then dulled almost in the same moment. "What is it, Legolas, what's wrong with Edren?"

"Thernad…" Now he was here, he couldn't think how he was going to tell her. He'd known in a moment that he had to, that this was something she needed to know sooner rather than later…but how could he say those words? How could he break her heart that way?

"Legolas?" She nudged his shoulder, trying to shake him from his reverie. "Just tell me, please."

The suspense was turning her skin white, and Legolas knew he had to tell her. "Mornaeg is back." He kept talking right over her gasp. "He tried to kill Edren, we all thought he had. But with the help of Lord Elrond and the Healer, Harain-"

"The one who was banished?"

"Yes, him. They brought Edren back."

"He's all right?"

"Yes, he is."

Her eyes shut in relief, and it tore Legolas' heart apart. _You have to tell her!_ "Thernad, Edren's alive, but he's not- exactly all right."

"What do you mean?"

"He…the healing process- you see, the way we brought him back, with Salab and Bengwiil- I mean, we healed him with Salab, because of the Bengwiil, but see, when he was shot it was-"

"Please," she whispered, squeezing his hand so tight his fingers were going numb.

He looked her in the eyes, swirling blue vapor, desperate for all the answers. "Edren doesn't remember anything, Thernad. Not me, not Mornaeg, not his past, his family…and not you."

"He…" she looked away from him, standing suddenly, and letting go of his hand.

"Thernad-"

"He doesn't remember anything at all?"

He just shook his head, eyes begging to tell her that he knew exactly how she felt. Well…maybe not exactly.

"He's alive," she said at last, her back turned to him, though he could hear her tears. "That's…all that really matters. Maybe- it'll all come back to him. Do you think?"

"Aye, I do." Legolas whispered, hoping he wasn't lying. "I do, Thernad," he said again, with more conviction, and after a few moments of silence, felt it was time she was left alone.

- - - - -

"I would come with you, Lord Elrond, but what of the Halls? What can they do in my absence?"

"I do not ask for your assistance, Thranduil. My people are far from this place, by the time any word even reached them of Mirkwood's predicament it would be too late. You must send your best warriors into the forest. You must smother this attempt of Mornaeg's to assist the orcs in destroying Mirkwood."

Legolas stood quietly beside his father's bed, where the king sat, watching the conversation unfold. He wanted to add his input, but felt that this conversation was not his quite yet.

Thranduil sighed. "So much death all ready…so many immortal souls cast into eternal darkness. But I- I will not allow further bloodshed when I could do something to prevent it."

Elrond looked satisfied, a little relieved as well. "Then I shall lead them into Mirkwood on your behalf, for I cannot ask you to abandon your Halls."

The king looked loathed to consider it. "Lord Elrond- your offer is gracious, but…I am Mirkwood's king. It is I who ought to lead my people."

"I would not take your pride from you, King, but I am here, I am prepared to assist you, and I do have selfish reasons for my actions as well."

Thranduil looked up for the first time.

"My son, Estel, has been taken captive by Mornaeg yet again, Thranduil."

Legolas got the impression this conversation had finally become his own. "What? How do you know?"

"Legolas," Thranduil chided softly, but Elrond met his eye.

"I have not the wisdom, perhaps, of the Lord Celeborn and the Lady Galadriel or of the many elves of old. But I know when my sons are in danger."

Legolas could feel his breath quickening. "He has been taken by Mornaeg?" Elrond nodded. "How? How long ago?"

"Legolas." This time Thranduil was sharper, and Legolas fell silent. "Then I suppose you must go, Lord Elrond. I shall assist you in assembling my best archers to join you."

"King Thranduil!" The door slammed open, flooding the dim room with sudden light, and Elrohir came running in. He stopped short. "Adda- you're back!"

"Ea im, ion-nin. What is wrong?"

"Adda, there is an elf out on the balcony. He's in such a rage, I think he means to throw himself down!"

Thranduil stood suddenly. "Who is he?"

"I know not, King."

"Never mind, take me to him, El."

The three elves followed Elrohir down the hall, a set of stairs, and finally around the corner and into a room. Elladan was standing out on the balcony of the room, hands outstretched. "I don't know what's going on, friend, but I can help you if you'll let me."

Elrond and Legolas stepped carefully onto the balcony. Legolas was the first to speak. "Daurrè!" The elf who was standing near the edge of the balcony looked up, his eyes uncharacteristically bloodshot with tears. He was clutching a tattered-looking book in is hands.

"Legolas?"

"Daurrè, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I…I- don't…" he looked down at the book in his hands, and for the first time, Legolas noticed the torn pages blowing around and off the balcony.

"What book is that, mellon-nin?"

Daurrè whispered something Legolas couldn't catch, except for the word 'journal'. "Is it your journal?" he guessed.

Daurrè shook his head 'no'. "It- it belongs to…" he glanced at Thranduil who had just stepped out onto the balcony and went silent.

Legolas took a step forward, coming to stand beside Elladan. "Daurrè if there is anything you wish to tell me that you cannot tell my father, we can go talk somewhere else."

Daurrè looked away from Thranduil, and back at Legolas. "No. No, I know I ought to say- ought to tell everyone…" his voice trailed off again. Clutching the journal to his chest, he took one step away from the balcony's edge. "It is Átniir's. It's her journal."

"Átniir?"

He nodded. The prince went forward another step. "Daurrè…tell me what has happened."

- - - - -

"Leave him alone, Mornaeg!" Aragorn tried for the millionth time to strike out at the orcs clinging to his shoulders, arms and hair like clawed barnacles. Edren was huddled on the floor, arms clenched tightly across his chest, eyes closed.

"Leave him alone, Mornaeg, poor little Arasen," Mornaeg mocked, dealing another blow to Edren's ribs. "I'd shut my mouth, human, you're next."

"He doesn't remember it, ANY of it! Don't you-" Aragorn was cut off as a dagger pressed suddenly against his throat. Mornaeg nodded approvingly at the dagger-wielding orc's improvisation, and turned back to Edren.

"I used to be your best friend, Arasen, like a father that you- never actually had. I don't suppose you remember him either?" Edren looked up for the first time, questions in his gaze, and it was clear that he did not remember his father. Mornaeg frowned in mock-pity. "He hated you."

Edren's eyes became steeled. "You can't take away what I don't have, you know."

"Don't think bravery will help you, Arasen." He looked up at Aragorn again. "Either of you. Oh, I know what you're thinking just now. Dear, brave Lindo will come! Or maybe- your darling ada, Estel. Oh, I dare say they shall come, or Lindo, anyway. In fact, I'm counting on it. Now. How does _that_ make you feel, Estel?" He turned and faced Aragorn full-on, walking towards him. "There's an elf in the Halls of Lindo's father who is loyal to me. An elf who has been assisting me in many, many ways. The elf who will make sure that Lindo comes right to my doorstep. Do you care to know who she is, Estel?"

"It's not Thernad," Aragorn rasped automatically, still trying to pull away from the knife pointed at his throat.

"No, no, not Thernad. What use would I have for her?"

"Then who-"

Mornaeg tisked loudly. "You mean you have not guessed? She is a better spy than I thought. Átniir."

Aragorn shook his head. "I don't believe you."

Mornaeg sighed, and paced closer to the human. "Átniir is my spy. Oh, perhaps she wasn't technically interested, but she has been useful enough. You see, both her brother Haithin and his friend Talaé r were among the idiots who rode into the forest to destroy the Bengwiil themselves. I caught them all, of course, the ones that didn't ride away half-alive, and I told Átniir that if she assisted, I would spare their lives.

"This worked well for awhile, but as I figured it would, she eventually began to resist. I told her to help bury Rhinthû r, my 'dead body decoy', with Tirniel. She said no, so I sent her a present: her brother with arrows through every part of his body."

Aragorn gritted his teeth, wishing he could take back the sarcastic thoughts he'd had about the fact that Átniir seemed to always be crying.

"She was ready to run away at that point, but she still had Talaé r's life in her hands, as I was happy to remind her, and she was back to do anything for me. She's spread lies, brought me inside information, even led you and Lindo to a certain place or certain conclusion. She told me one night she could not live with her conscience anymore, because she had pretended to be Thernad that day to fool you two."

"_What's wrong, Thernad? Why are you so upset? Can I-"_

"_Go to Mornaeg's room, Legolas. Then you will see why."_

"_Will you not come with me, Thernad?"_

"_No." Her voice was dull. "No. I don't want to."_

"She then locked you both into Lindo's old room till you found the trapdoor under his bed. Just as I planned it. Of course for a little bit there, I was sure I'd lost her loyalty; The day I asked her to lead the Lord Elrond into Mirkwood where I could capture him. As a previous resident of Rivendell, she didn't like that too well, and was ready to turn on me, but I- well, let her know what was at steak, cut Talaé r's left hand off, and she led Elrond into Mirkwood." He snapped his fingers and smirked. "Easy as that. Smart girl."

"Pathetic," Aragorn hissed, ignoring the blade at his throat temporarily. Mornaeg turned to him, curious. "You call yourself a- a tyrant," he stammered through his half-blocked windpipe and clenched teeth, "but you're pathetic, Mornaeg, all you know how to do is terrify and- and how to destroy. Any fool can kill."

Mornaeg nodded slowly. "True, human, excellent point. I didn't know a mortal would have such thorough views of evil. Perhaps you've done your own wicked deeds, Estel?" Aragorn only held his gaze coolly. "But I'm not just a killer, I have planned this slow death delicately, mellon-nin. The steady crumble of you and Arasen, and by that, Lindo, and by him, his father, and by Mirkwood's so-called king's fall, this whole great forest will topple into darkness."

"This is your home-"

"Wrong! It _was_ my home. Mine and Minaeg's. But we all know what happened to him now, don't we? Arasen made sure of that. Thank you, by the way, mellon-nin." He turned to Edren. "Átniir told me of the charming tale you related to Lindo on my behalf. All the gory details, so I hear."

Edren just shook his head, stealing a brief, questioning glance to Aragorn. "Oh yes, that's right." Mornaeg sighed theatrically, "You don't remember that, do you? But you know of what I speak, Arasen. After all, you've read the journals." Edren looked up suddenly. "What, surprised? Come now, Lindo took them with him, and found you not long afterwards. Being the sentimental wreck he is, he of course gave them all to you. And you read them, Arasen, because you're afraid. You want to know who you are, and it terrifies you that you don't recall. But what is worse? To not know? Or…" he smiled evilly. "To know the horrible truth. You're a liar. A coward. A traitor. One with the audacity to call yourself Lindo's friend. And you hate yourself, Arasen, you do so."

"What do you know!" Aragorn's mouth was ajar, ready to speak, but Edren's words came first. "You don't know me, Mornaeg, don't think I haven't read _all_ the journals, every page. Don't think I don't know exactly who I was- am. And don't try to make me think it's all my fault, because it's not."

Mornaeg's mouth opened to speak, closed, opened again. He looked away briefly. Araogrn realized he'd never seen Mornaeg taken aback before. For a brief moment, there was fear in his eyes…and then it was gone. "Yes it is, Arasen. You can deny the responsibility if you want, but you know-"

"Do you know what Legolas said when he left for Rivendell? He told me to keep the journals. He shouted at me and I didn't care because I knew why. He wants me back, he wants the Edren in those journals back. So I don't remember what I did back then, but he doesn't care, so neither do I!"

It was clear Morneag had not planned to be yelled at today, especially by quiet, little Arasen. That look of fear slid behind his eyes again, but he fought it. "Not everything is in those journals you know, Edren. I read them too. But did you happen to mention the things you were too afraid to admit? The things that you didn't even put in your journals?"

"What things?"

Mornaeg's smooth air took him over again. "Legolas tried to kill you once."

"That's a lie and you know it, Mornaeg!" Aragorn spat.

"No it isn't."

"It has to be," Edren whispered.

"Attempted to drive a dagger straight through your heart, he did."

"Edren, it's a bold-faced lie."

Mornaeg took a moment to smirk at Aragorn, proving the human's point, but the face he showed Edren was one of deepest pity. "It hurts when a friend decides he can't stand you. That he can't forgive you. Legolas couldn't take the betrayal you dealt him, so he attempted to kill you."

"Edren, you know it's not true."

"Estel, here, stopped him, but I suppose the very fact he would rather you were dead was too much for you, little Arasen. You didn't say a word of it in your journals."

"Edren-"

"I…don't believe you."

Mornaeg smiled. "You don't know _what _to believe, Arasen."


	13. Love or Die

**Chapter 13**

**Love or Die**

"I can't…take this, Legolas. Knowing that it was Átniir who betrayed the king, Lord Elrond, you…and me. I can't live with it, mellon-nin, I don't know how!"

"Daurrè- Daurrè, easy," Legolas murmured, leading his friend away from the balcony's edge. "You've read all this penned in her own hand?"

"I had my suspicions about what was really upsetting her all this time," he sighed dejectedly. "But I didn't know for sure till now. I wanted to believe she was innocent."

"But Daurrè, you read it for yourself; Átniir was forced into doing this. To protect the ones she loved…loves."

Daurrè shook his head, tears brimming in his eyes, and looked away. "There's more. And perhaps, once you know it, you won't be so quick to forgive her, Legolas. In her journal, she spoke of Mornaeg's plans, and he's- determined to bring you back to his fortress in Mirkwood, and she says that he's going to use your friend Estel as bait. He's found some way to lure him outside of the tunnels so he can catch him."

Legolas groaned, burying his head in his hands. Would Mornaeg _ever_ relent?

"Legolas- I don't know, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."

"You can come with me, my friend."

"And where are you going, young prince?" That was Thranduil, who up till now, stood quietly in the doorway with Elrond and the twins. Legolas looked up at him.

"Father, it's time I face my past. I'm going to Mandossea."

"Do not act out of pride, my son," the king urged, coming to stand in front of the prince. "This elf has taken much from you, but do not use that as a weapon."

"I do not go for myself, Father," Legolas promised, just barely above a whisper. "I've seen the darkest side of Mornaeg all ready. But for Aragorn…for Edren, for you, for Daurrè. For the ones I love, this horror will never end until I do something. And I think- that I am the only one who can."

"You cannot defeat one so mad, Legolas."

"I cannot let him survive either, Father."

Thranduil paled. "You intend- to do away with him?"

Legolas was surprised by the response at first, but then a memory-one that seemed like such a long time ago now-stirred in his mind. He sighed, and stepped closer to his father, looking up into the eyes just slightly higher than his own. "Yes. And with him, Bengwiil." The king stiffened. "Father, it cannot change anything. It can't bring Naneth back."

"How do you know!" he shouted suddenly. "You don't know, you know nothing of this plant but what has been told you. Only what it can't do, but what about what it _can_ do?"

"I know this, I know that your beloved, my mother is gone! She's gone, Father, you can't bring her back, and she'd be ashamed if she knew-" the king's hand struck the side of Legolas' face before either could think, and the prince's breath caught, his head snapping to the side. Out of the corner of his eye, Legolas could see Elrond step forward, but he began to speak first.

"You're still using it." Thrnaduil's eyes were the only answer he need. "I don't believe you, Father, you're still using it! Are you mad!"

"It's the only way I can see Meltha!"

"She's not coming back!" Legolas ducked a second blow, standing again and grabbing his father's shoulder, as his voice dropped low. "But Father I'm still here." He didn't wait for a reply, but grabbed Daurrè by the hand and left the balcony behind him swiftly. Slowly, Elrond and his sons followed, leaving the king alone.

- - - - -

The prince and his sole companion pounded through the thick of Mirkwood, aiming directly for where Leoglas was pretty sure Mandossea was. In his head, he could still hear Elrond's parting words:

"_The light of the Valar go with you, Legolas. I will join you in Mirkwood with the strength of your father's kingdom with me as soon as I may. Be brave, son of Thranduil."_

He had mounted his horse, there'd been a moment of silence, and then Elrohir…

"_Your father will see, Legolas. He'll love you again."_

The prince of Mirkwood smiled, and called over his shoulder, "We're getting close, Daurrè."

- - - - -

"He's not afraid of you, you know."

"Who?"

"Legolas. He's not scared of you. He isn't a little boy anymore, Mornaeg."

The elf eyed Aragorn with a criticism. "What, do you think he was ever scared of what I would do to him? Do you think he ever feared for his own life? No, little Estel. Legolas fears me because he knows I can take things away from him: his happiness, his security…" he ran a hand down the human's face, and Aragorn resisted the urge to recoil. "I can even take his greatest friend and best reason for living. Would be a pity to lose that, wouldn't it, Estel?"

Aragorn wasn't going to reply, but something came to his mind that he could not hold back. "But he knows." Mornaeg's response was a raised eyebrow. "He knows I won't leave him."

The elf smirked. "We'll see." Aragorn heard the clatter outside the door only milliseconds before Mornaeg pressed his dagger to the human's throat, hauling him to his feet, away from the orcs who had been clinging to him. "Drop it!"

There was a long moment of deafening silence in the dim room before Mornaeg repeated the demand. "Drop it now, Lindo, unless you want to lose your human friend all ready!"

WHAM! THUD.

Legolas stood in the doorway, now emptied of its door, bow and arrow held loosely at his sides. Without even looking around the room, he dropped both weapons on the floor, and held his hands, palms up, in the air. "You win."

As the orcs behind came flooding in on either side of him, being quick to start tying him up, Legolas only ever looked at Mornaeg and Aragorn. "What, no fight, little prince? How disappointed I am."

"I came of my own volition this time. Why would I fight?" One of the orcs behind him gave the elf a violent shove to the center of the room, but Legolas steadied himself. "You and I need to talk, Tiro-Lim."

"We certainly do." Mornaeg looked at him unsmilingly, making sure he wasn't going anywhere, and then tossed Aragorn back to the orcs. The human's forehead impacted harshly with the wood floor before the orcs gathered him up again, and uncertainty shadowed Legolas' face. A thin line of blood trailed down the side of his head, but he seemed all right.

"So. Let's talk, Lindo!" Mornaeg grabbed Legolas' bound hands and dragged him to the wall. Lifting the elf's arms over his head, he looped the rope around a branch leading across the ceiling, securing it and stepping back to look Leoglas in the eye. The prince was still unsettlingly calm as Mornage spat, "What have you to say to me?"

Legolas' voice, though strained by his awkward position, was none-the-less resolute. "Let Aragorn and Edren go, they don't have anything to do with our past, Mornaeg."

He sniffed, "Edren may go, but the human stays."

"Very well, if I cannot convince you."

"Thurzak?" One of the larger of the orcs lumbered up to Mornaeg's side, wheezing through a disproportioned nose. "Take the dark-haired elf to the Bengwiil tents and have him tend to the weeds down there, will you?" He flashed a steely smile at Legolas as the orc dragged Edren to his feet and shoved him towards the door. "Happy, Lindo?

Legolas gazed coolly back, stealing a quick encouraging glance to Edren, though the elf, who had fallen silent about an hour ago, seemed as though he was in shock, and didn't return the gaze.

The door slammed dully, and Legolas' eyes were back on Mornaeg. "You will never find peace. You know that, don't you? Killing a million men would never return your brother."

"Perhaps not, but it gives me something to do."

"Do you so lack any respect for Minaeg's memory?"

Mornaeg was furious at that. "Do you honestly think that-"

"Let me finish!"

"You have nothing to say-"

"There's more than you know-"

"-that I haven't all ready heard millions-"

"If you could only listen to me!"

"I don't need-"

"Just listen!"

They seemed to be speaking at the same time, or at staggered times. "Just listen to me!" Legolas repeated, vehement. Miraculously, Mornaeg stopped speaking. "I'll take you back."

"What?"

"I can forgive you, Mornaeg. There are people who are still capable of caring about you."

"You don't care."

"I do, Mornaeg, and my father has all ready forgiven you."

"Don't you lie to me, Lindo!" He struck the prince soundly across the face, cutting his lip. "Don't pretend like you care, don't say it's all right because you've _forgiven_ me, don't act like I'm some sentimental fool!"

"I have not yet found it in me, but I _can_ forgive you."

"You can't even forgive yourself!"

Silence. Aragorn's eyes fixed on his friend. "What do you-"

"As though you know anything about forgiveness, Lindo. I don't suppose you've told your friends what you did? What you're still trying to _forget_ you did." Mornaeg's slender hand patted Legolas' chest pointedly.

Legolas' face had become frighteningly pale. "How…could you possibly know-"

"Well, maybe you didn't tell Edren, but he knows. I mean- he _knew_." He smiled in pseudo pity. "It's in his journals, Lindo, surely you read them?"

"'Tisn't polite to read private thoughts of others," Aragorn put in coolly.

Mornaeg's gaze hardened on the human. "Estel, would you like to know what it is little Lindo has been hiding from you?"

"Mornaeg, this is between you and me."

"We're beyond that!" he shouted back, "Thanks to you, this involves a _lot_ more than just you and me, Lindo, it involves all the ones you care about." He rushed towards the prince, knife drawn.

"What are you doing!" Aragorn shouted, lunging against the orcs. "Mornaeg, hear what he has to say."

But Mornaeg was not about to kill the prince. Rather, he rent the knife through Legolas' tunic front, shredding it efficiently, and tearing the tattered remains back. "Bring him here, now!" The orcs dragged Aragorn roughly forward, pulling him to his feet. "Look, human! See, even the elves have such faults." Mornaeg grabbed the ranger by his hair, shaking him. "Look!"

Aragorn did. Along Legolas' chest, starting just below his collarbone, and running about four inches downward, was a thin, paling scar.

"Perhaps it's just a wound from a battle past. Perhaps more of his horrible childhood? Maybe it's all a mistake!" Mornaeg laughed harshly. "Isn't that what you're thinking? But you know where all this is going, don't you."

Aragorn turned weary eyes on the elf, shaking his head. _My fault…my fault._

"Tell him what you did, Lindo." Legolas couldn't meet Aragorn's eyes, nor did he respond when Morneag shook him and repeated, "Tell him!" Only when Mornaeg drew a knife to Aragorn's throat again did Legolas look up, and even then, he didn't seem to really notice Aragorn's peril. Neither did Aragorn. His eyes were only for the prince's face, and they were full of alarm and denial.

"Aragorn, I…I tried to tell you so many times, but I was ashamed."

"Legolas-"

"No, mellon-nin, it's true. I tried to kill myself."

The orcs seemed to like that idea very much and cackled loudly, but Mornaeg shushed them with a glare, soaking in Leoglas' despair and Aragorn's disbelief like ground drinks water. Aragorn couldn't find a word to say for seven very long moments.

"Wh…" When? Why? He couldn't decide which one's answer would help him more. "But…when? And…where was I?"

Legolas was clearly having a hard time holding himself together all of a sudden. He squinted his eyes in an effort to keep them from showing his emotions. He had to get this out. "You were dead, Aragorn. We all…we were sure you were dead, and I couldn't bear it anymore, I…was falling apart, and one night, I wrote-"

"You wrote a note to Edren. The one they found under your bed…" Aragorn's eyes lit with recognition.

_Garaer unfolded the paper, and began to read aloud:_

_An mellon mi enyalie,_

_Time hurts. It burns. It freezes._

_Fair it well then. Tonight. For this night it leaves._

_This night time ceases, leaving a cold body in its wake._

_The heir to folly. The king of none._

_But no more._

_Remember tonight in hope. This night. The night of surrender._

_Remember…_

_-Legolas_

"They said- it was a note threatening your father, but…it was a suicide note." The word _suicide _seemed just too much, and Aragorn felt the need to cover it up with something else. "_An mellon mi enyalie_, 'to the friend who will remember'. Edren."

Legolas nodded. "He was the only one holding me together…I must have broken his heart those many days I stayed locked away in my room." He looked at Aragorn quietly. "And now he can't remember it for me to apologize."

Mornaeg's voice interrupted harshly. "Oh, Edren has a lot more to do with this ordeal than you think, from what Átniir has told me. Remember the key, Legolas?"

Legolas nodded. "Key?" Aragorn's eyes darted to Mornaeg, questioningly, and then to Legolas instead, not wanting to give Mornaeg the benefit of a question. It didn't matter, however, for the older elf's eyes were only for Legolas now.

"They found your father's key wrapped in that _suicide _note." (Mornaeg seemed to relish the word) "This only added to their suspicions that you were attempting to assassinate him. But his key wasn't supposed to be in there, was it? Little Estel's was. You were going to leave the note in your room, go to your human friend's room, lock the door, and kill yourself, weren't you? And when you didn't go through with the suicide, you hid both the note and the key under your bed."

"But then…how did Aragorn's get in there?"

Mornaeg smiled indifferently, "Your dear friend Edren. He knew, Legolas, or at least he was worried he did. He checked around your room for weapons, anything you would be tempted to use against yourself, and don't shake your head like that, Átniir _saw_ him do it. But he found no weapon, only a note and Estel's key. He's a smart elf, when pressed, he put the pieces together, and to hopefully dissuade you from considering your suicide, he switched the keys. So, you might say it was _Edren's_ fault that you were accused of the murder of your father, but…" he pitched his voice in a high, crude imitation of Legolas' own voice. "It's not as though he remembers _any_ of this."

"I don't care!" Legolas spat suddenly, and Mornaeg seemed to start inwardly. "I don't care that Edren can't remember anything, at least he's _alive_. And you can say what you like about me, about my mistakes, about my scars whether emotional or physical, but you don't have a hold on me anymore, Mornaeg. You can't break someone's heart if you don't care about them anyway. And I may be able to forgive you, accept that you can change, but I don't have to do _any _of that if you don't give me a reason, and since that day the two of you went hunting together when I was a boy, I have had _no_ reason to love you!"

"You're pathetic! You're a child, Legolas, you're even crying now!" Mornaeg slapped the elf in the face a second time. "Stupid little boy! Stupid! Stop crying, you have no right to cry, murderer! He was my brother, Lindo, _my_ brother! You don't care, you don't feel-"

"I love Aragorn, I love Edren, I love my father, I love! You don't, Mornaeg, and for that reason, you could never understand me."

"Oh, I don't have to understand. I _hate_ you! Is that not a feeling? I hate you more than I've hated anything! I hate you more than you have ever loved."

"You've poisoned your _own_ mind against me, Mornaeg, for I never hated you before you hated me."

"Mornaeg?" The elf whirled to the doorway, where Átniir stood silently, her fingers twitching nervously at her sides. She seemed to be trying hard not to look at Legolas or Aragorn. "Sir, I cannot find Talaé r. He- he was not where you said he would be, sir, and I- You promised if I-"

Mornaeg pretended to probe his memory. "Ah yes, young Talaé r…blonde hair, whiny voice, _one_ hand?"

"That's him," Átniir muttered, looking at her feet and clearly biting back tears. "Where is he?"

"Him? Oh, my dear girl, I killed him _ages_ ago. Surely I told you?" Átniir's eyes became wide with horror, and tears began to slide down her fair face.

"But-" she choked, "you said-"

"Well, I've quite forgotten what I said, now go and get me Edren. His life-line is also drawing to a close." Átniir just stood, shaking her head and mouthing the name of the one she'd just lost. Aragorn thought he ought to do something, and wished that he could. He was about to speak, when Mornaeg snapped, "Átniir!" Startled, she looked at him again. "It may comfort you to know he died quickly. Wouldn't it be tragic if Edren's death was slow, painful, if his life ended in pitiful screams, because of you?"

The look on the young elf's face spoke loudly of many such threats. It was weary, broken. She was giving up. Without a word, a chance of expression, a glance to anyone, Átniir seemed to fade from the doorway, and her footsteps faded with her.

"You have fallen so far, my friend." Legolas' voice had since lost all its malice, all sign of furry. It was matter-of-fact, steady, and utterly condescending, which was probably what burned Mornaeg the most. He whirled, striking the prince across the face for the third time, and then again. And again. Legolas spat blood at him, causing him to pause in the beating.

"You think I care what you do to me?"

"You think I won't turn on your precious friend if you continue to anger me?"

"What does it matter?" A red trail ran from his mouth and spattered his tunic, but he truly didn't seem to notice any pain. "You will kill me, you will kill Estel. Ah, and you will more than likely kill Edren, even though he is practically a child to this situation. But what will you do then? Who will you chase down? Who will smother when we are gone?"

Mornaeg laughed. Not the cold laughter of evil pleasure, malicious intent. It was mad, lacking in all control and reason. "I don't care! I'll kill your father, crumble Mirkwood, destroy Rivendell, burn down the woods of Lothlorien. There is no limit to conquest, Lindo! None!"

Legolas shook his head all the while. "Oh, you are wrong, Mornaeg. Love is a little like hate. You are devastated when you lose the ones to whom you have attached your emotions, love or hate. Soon we will all be gone, and you will be more alone than you were. Robbed of the ones who once were precious to you, and your revenge."

He smiled a deep, frighteningly understated smile, and his eyes flashed a bright, unnatural green. "Oh well."

- - - - -

Átniir kept falling to her knees and having to scramble up again. Over and over it seemed to happen, and she couldn't figure out if it was because she couldn't see the ground through her tears, or because she was trembling all over. "Talaé r, mellon-nin…hero hu ith-" she gasped, and fell to the ground again, not bothering to get up this time. "Ab-weneth…Talaé r! I tried, I thought- I- I thought…fool, I was a- a fool, traitor, and all for nothing! All for nothing!" She sobbed a few more moments into her knees, and then became still. She couldn't cry anymore. She didn't have the will or the energy.

Glaze-eyed, she rose to her feet, and ran to the Bengwiil grounds. Approaching one of the large orcs outside, she spoke as though she were reciting, "Mornaeg orders the dark-haired elf should be brought to him now." One of the orcs nodded, and turned inside, while the other sneered with an ugly set of teeth at Átniir. She glared back, and turned away towards the woods again.

She knew she was being yanked backward long before she noticed the hands on her shoulders, even though the hands had grabbed her first. On another day she may have cried out, even fought back, but her body went limp in the sudden attack, and the only sign of protest was her breath catching in her throat.

She stood, one of the arms wrapped around her waist, one around he shoulders, the hand pressed tight across her mouth. Soon, there was warm breath in her ear and a whisper, "I did not know what to believe, Átniir, but your conduct proves it. You would send Edren to his death?" There was a sigh of a defeat, a pause, then, "I- do not know what emotions drove you to this point, but if you do not love me anymore, just say so. If you cannot love Mirkwood, you cannot love me. And if you will not leave Mornaeg, Átniir, then you can't possibly love your home. Just- tell me, please, once and for all."

The figure let her go, and Átniir turned, all ready knowing who it was the moment she heard his voice. "Daurrè." She gasped, and in answer to every one of his questions, she threw her arms around him, and her tears began afresh. But these did not taste like the sharp salt of regret she'd been crying, they were sweet with relief. And the young elf thought she would never recall a happier memory than when, after a pause of surprise and decision, Daurrè held her close and said he loved her, that he always would love her, and (this that drove her tears the harder) that he forgave her everything.

- - - - -

"Let him go, Mornaeg!"

"NO! Do you think I've come this far to have mercy now? I don't know it anymore, Lindo, so stop crying like a child. This is your last chance to see either one of them, so take a good look!"

It was all happening too quickly. Edren had no sooner been pulled into the dark room than Mornaeg ordered both him and Aragorn be taken away. A dozen orcs swarmed the wood floors, tugging the human and elf away like a black wave. Aragorn tried to cry out to Legolas, whether in assurance or fear he didn't know, but one of the orcs cackled loudly in his ear and shoved a foul-smelling cloth into his mouth. Aragorn struck out until his muscles ached, and Edren the same, but to no avail.

"Aragorn- ARAGORN!" Legolas cried, not realizing how much Mornaeg was enjoying the panic in his voice. Where was Aragorn? Legolas couldn't see him through the cloud of orcs, and he could feel anger and frustration rising in his throat.

"No stalling, Lindo," Mornaeg leered, giving Legolas a friendly pat which the prince shunned immediately. "No tearful goodbyes, no heartfelt, friend-to-friend parting, no 'I'll always be there, mellon-nin,'" he mimicked, the smile turning to a harsh frown. "You don't deserve any such goodbye. I did not get one when my brother died, nor did anyone…"

Legolas blocked the elf's voice out, putting his concentration on the mob of orcs swarming towards the door. "Aragorn!" He thrashed around, attempting to dislodge himself from the beam over his head. "Edren! ESTEL!"

"Do you want to know the rest?" Mornaeg grabbed the prince's chin, redirecting his gaze away from the door. Legolas thrashed even harder, rearing his head like an angry horse, but Morneag was determined too. "They're going to die. _Both_ of them. One will be quick, painless."

He jerked his head to the side, trying to see the crowd of orcs. They were leaving- they were almost gone! "Aragorn- lasto beth nin!"

"The other will die slowly, working day after day to grow my Bengwiil, and be kicked and prodded by my orcs, to be locked away from the sun every day, and made to work every night." He smiled, "Do you want to know which will be which? Will Arasen suffer for years before death takes him, or shall Estel?"

They were gone. Aragorn and Edren both, dragged away…with no goodbye. The room was empty, quiet. Frozen, but still tense with fresh footsteps.

"I want you to decide, Lindo. Think of it as a parting gift."

Legolas was silent. Blank. "I…won't let you."

"You can't stop me." Mornaeg grabbed the prince's face between his hands, looking down at him in mock pity. "Do you remember how I used to hold you like this as a boy, Lindo? Every time you worried, you feared, I would look into your eyes just like this, and tell you it was fine."

And Legolas did remember. "But you're not the elf you once were."

"I am the same, Lindo."

Legolas squinted back, shaking his head, and gazing into the eyes. "Then call me Legolas."

Mornaeg did not reply to the demand, but put his face closer to the prince's. "Who will it be? Arasen or Estel? Which shall receive the merciful gift of death right now, and which will not?"

"If they will both die, it won't matter," Legolas responded dully, pleading in his heart that Daurrè would reach his friends first, as planned. "I don't care anymore."

Mornaeg brought his face even closer, "Are you ready to die, then?"

Legolas' head jerked back suddenly, then forward, smacking Mornaeg soundly on the skull, and kicking the reeling elf back a step. Mornaeg clutched his head, sitting on the floor on for a moment, and then rising suddenly, a fresh spark of furry in his eyes.

Legolas returned it coolly. "Ready."


	14. A Time To Die

**Chapter 14**

**A Time To Die**

"Where are we going?"

"To your death."

"I see."

Mornaeg laughed under his breath. "Ah, dear Lindo, brave to the death. But you don't know your fate yet, do you?"

Legolas allowed himself to be shoved along the dark path by a few grimy orcs on either side of him. "Mornaeg, what do you think you could possibly do to me at this point? What have I not seen?" Legolas found he was talking to himself more than Mornaeg. "You've killed Aragorn, killed Edren, alienated my father, put me through every painful segment of my entire past, terrorized these great woods, my _home_, and now you plan on drawing it all to an ashen conclusion."

"I know what you find the hardest to bear, Lindo. Don't you forget that." They came to stand in front of the hollow tree where Legolas and Aragorn had been imprisoned, and the two orcs grunted to move the stone out of the way.

Legolas was silent a moment, then, "_And_ you made one of my best friends irretrievable. For that, I have the hardest time forgiving you."

Mornaeg turned slowly around and something odd happened. He looked confused. "Who-" then his cruel humor took over again. "Ahh, dear Átniir. I do wish-"

"No, you." Legolas shrugged, finding himself strangely calm all of a sudden. "You ruined a good person when you turned bitter, Tiro-Lim."

He struck the prince across the face, first to the left, then the right. "Don't you call me that!"

Legolas shook his head in something like morbid fascination. "After telling me a million times to?"

"Tiro-Lim is not one of your _good people_, Lindo, he is- I am- you will die! Do you hear me? Don't you try to guilt me into letting you go. I know that's what you're trying to do, and it won't work." Legolas nodded, but more to himself than Mornaeg. He made no further reply. "Go in there. I said MOVE!" Mornaeg snatched Legolas by the collar and threw him bodily into the hollow tree. He grabbed a torch from one of the orcs, and ran in after him.

He stood for a few moments at the mouth of the tree, Legolas before him, face dimly lit by the torch. When he spoke, his words were dripping with malice, with vindictive pleasure. "Now you die, Lindo. Now you die. Now, you will…now…" His smile was cruel, crazed. "Now you die."

"Is that all, Mornaeg? Now I die?" Legolas weighed his options. Perhaps he could break for the opening, but the orcs stood outside the narrow gap, and he'd have to barrel past Mornaeg first. So he didn't try. The prince looked about him a moment, then calmly sat on the dirt floor. "All right then, kill me."

"You…you…" He was pacing, muttering. "You did it, you did it, you did kill my brother, admit it."

"No, I did not." Always, always before this retort had wrought anger from the other elf, but Mornaeg did not shout this time. His eyes had become…desperate?

He jabbed a finger at the smaller elf before him, shaking it with each sentence. "You did, I know it, I've seen it. It must be true, Lindo, only admit it."

"Mornaeg, I loved your brother."

"Oh really? Then why did you kill him?"

"I didn't."

Then the anger came. "It is the only way! It is the only thing that is to be truth! It is my brother's death, it cannot be misunderstood!" The prince wasn't entirely sure what the elf was talking about, but somehow he understood. He fought to feel pity for him, but Aragorn's cries of pain and fear from so many long days of terror filled his head and he could not find it in himself.

"You. Will. Die." Mornaeg took the torch and walked about the room, dragging its flame against the wall. Legolas watched him silently, fighting back his fear. The walls caught fire like straw. He squinted, confused, at the ground beneath his feet, realizing he'd never really looked closely at this room, as it had always been in the dark. As the torch swung past the hole that Anorc had made (now filled in with gravel) the light came close enough to Legolas for him to see.

His heart turned cold. "Bengwiil."

A sickeningly sweet smile of morbid pleasure spread over Mornaeg's dim face. "I hope you enjoy your final moments, Lindo. Though somehow I think you will not."

The whole room was burning, the air filled with smoke and the grassy, syrupy smell of Bengwiil. Mornaeg was walking to the door, the orcs got behind the stone to heave. _He can't! You can't let him! You can't die this way!_ Legolas silenced his panicked head, and squinted through the smoke at Mornaeg as he stood in the opening of the tree once more. _I will not give him the pleasure of my fear. And I will not die that way either._

And so Legolas looked up at the dirt ceiling, leaned back till he was laying on his back, and closed his eyes, arms sprawled over his head. "Goodbye then, Mornaeg."

The stone slid over the entrance, the flames licked hungrily at the remaining oxygen, and outside, Legolas heard Mornaeg curse in the black tongue, and the orcs squealed as he furiously ran them both through. The prince could sense him standing by the closed entrance, listening, trying to think of a parting shot.

Legolas began to sing quietly. "The Road goes ever on and on, down from the door where-"

"You are afraid to die, Lindo!" Mornaeg spat at the top of his voice, "You cannot fool me with your feigned courage!"

"I am _not_ afraid to die," Legolas shouted back, and then paused. Yes. It was true, he wasn't. But-

"Why!"

"Aragorn." Legolas smiled to himself as the answer sprang from his mouth before his mind had time to respond. He opened his eyes, saw the flames climbing higher around him, and closed them again. "Aragorn." It really was the right answer.

There was soon a loud scratching of dirt outside the wall that slowly faded. Mornaeg had walked away. Legolas could hear Daurrè's voice echoing in his head still.

"_What do you intend to do?"_

"_Let Mornaeg take me."_

"_Legolas, that's ridiculous, there has to be another way."_

"_No, I've thought it through. He won't rest till he has a victim; me. I'd rather be dead then let Estel or Edren die, mellon-nin."_

"_But…you mean to die?"_

"_Perhaps. But learn from my mistakes, Daurrè, and do not underestimate the love of a friend."_

"_Edren?"_

"_Aragorn."_

In a whisper, with as little breathing as possible, Legolas began to sing again. "The Road goes ever on and on…"

_Aragorn._

"Down from the door where it began…"

_Estel._

"Now far ahead…"

_The Road is gone. I must follow if I can. Perusing it with eager feet, until-_

"Breathe, Legolas!" He was surprised by his own voice, and for a brief moment, dared to hope it was someone else's. But he'd coaxed himself out of the stupor. Why breathe if he was going to die? If he began to breathe, he'd begin to hallucinate, and would die without being in his right mind. The worst kind of death.

Why breathe?

_Aragorn._

- - - - -

Mornaeg stood, cold fury creeping up his spine. Before him, his garden, his nursery of Bengwiil was billowing with smoke. _Átniir._

She stood, torch held in her hand, unafraid defiance in her eyes. Beside her, Daurrè held his bow and arrow, poised. It was an odd moment. Mornaeg desired richly to run at them, to tear them to pieces if he could! But…he didn't. And it wasn't because of Daurrè, he wasn't afraid of some juvenile hunter with barely enough experience to instruct an infant. It was…

A spontaneous and unwelcome thought crept into his head. _You've never killed a women before._ So what? So what! "_You ruined a good person when you turned bitter, Tiro-Lim."_

He screamed. "Shut up, Lindo!"

"_I have not yet found it in me, but I can forgive you."_

He clamped his hands over his ears, shaking his head hard. Daurrè and Átniir could only watch in silence, utterly perplexed. Before Daurrè had a chance to consider shooting Mornaeg, the elf turned and ran into the forest, as his life's work went up in flames.

- - - - -

"_I tried to kill myself, Aragorn._" He didn't care. Had not every elf made his mistakes at some point? _I don't care, Legolas, I don't…I forgive you._

Aragorn sat in silence next to Edren on the dirt ground, encircled by orcs whose spears, swords and various weapon-like devices pointed down at the two of them. He couldn't think what to say. For Edren, for himself…There wasn't anything, was there? Not really. And there was no knowing what was happening to Legolas at this moment. Surely he hadn't come running back to Mornaeg without a plan?

_He did it for you._ Aragorn buried his face in his hands at this thought. Yes, he probably did. "Oh Legolas…"

"What?" Edren's head turned at the sound of Aragorn's whisper.

"Oh…nothing," Aragorn shrugged, tearing absently at the grass blades in front of him.

"We've been here an awfully long time. Where is Mornaeg?"

"With Legolas," he sighed, the thought encouraging neither of them.

At that moment, Mornaeg broke through the circle of orcs and stood before the elf and human, eyes calm. Strangely calm. Edren looked up expectantly, but quietly. Aragorn acted as though he hadn't noticed. Still fiddling with the grass in his hands, he said, "Where is Legolas?"

Mornaeg paused before answering, then smiled. "Dead."

Aragorn shook his head. "No he's not. Where is he?" The answer seemed to displease Mornaeg. He scowled and opened his mouth, but Aragorn cut him off. "Is he in the tree? It's full of Bengwiil, I sensed it."

Mornaeg snorted at that. "You're a human, boy, you don't _sense_ anything."

"What now, Mornaeg?" Edren asked, and Aragorn got the impression he was going to stick with the human's feelings for now and not worry about Legolas just yet.

"I told Lindo that I'd let one of you live and one of you die. I gave him the option to choose, but he gracious left it up to me." He sneered throwing his hands up. "And I simply cannot decide!"

Aragorn closed his eyes, trying to think. A plan…Why wasn't he thinking straight! There had to be a way out of this, there always was. They didn't stand a chance breaking for it, but Legolas was the only other one here on their side. And where _was_ the prince, anyway? He wasn't dead, he could see it in Mornaeg's eyes. But where was he?

"I'll let you decide."

_Legolas, help me here…what do I do?_

"Who will it be, Estel?"

_What would you do?…oh, Aragorn. You know what Legolas would do._

"Take me." Mornaeg cackled, high and loud, and it vaguely occurred to Aragorn that he laughed nothing like an elf. In fact, it was really nothing like a laugh at all.

"My my, so predictable! Take _me_, Tiro-Lim, let me be the hero!"

"Did you give me the choice or not?" Aragorn brushed himself off and stood, feeling Edren follow suit beside him. "Well I choose me."

"No, it's perfectly all right, you will both die anyway. Only, one will die right here, right now. The other one will get the slow, painful death. If you want to save the latter for Edren, that is commendable."

Aragorn's mind whirred at that. No, Edren would find a way to escape if he had the time. Elrond, his brothers, Thranduil…The one left living stood a chance, he was sure of it. Only one of the would die. Just one. "I'd like to be the first to go, thank you."

Edren, who had been holding back comment for several moments finally spoke. "No, Estel, Legolas would want you to live."

"Legolas _wants_ you to live as well, Edren." Aragorn smiled, just a little sadly. "And if it were him making the choice, he would do what I'm doing."

"I can't let you do it," Edren shook his head vehemently.

"Yes you can. I need you to, Edren. Legolas-"

Aragorn had never been so relieved to hear the orcs squeeling in horror. Arrows came raining into their midst. About seven fell dead immediately, the rest began to return fire. Edren sprung for one of the fallen orcs' weapons the moment the arrows began to fall, and started swinging. Aragorn paused, however, eyes fixed on the rustling undergrowth where a face had briefly surfaced a moment ago.

"Elladan? Ellada-" Aragorn chocked hard as Mornaeg leapt up behind him, wrapping his arm around the human's neck, his dagger pressed across Aragorn's chest. The man flailed, trying to pry Mornaeg's grip off of him, but the elf jerked him hard, blocking all air briefly. Aragorn's head spun, his vision blurring, and somewhere in that brief moment, Mornaeg threw a loop of coiled rope around the his wrists, tying them crudely but tightly behind his back. He pressed the knife to Aragorn's throat, and hollered, "Cease your fire!"

He repeated about a dozen times before the arrows stopped flying. "Stop shooting or you'll lose your precious little brother like I killed his friend, the prince!"

"What have you done with Legolas?" Elrohir's voice demanded from somewhere in the trees.

"What I'm about to do with little Estel if you don't listen," he panted loudly in Aragorn's ear. "Put down your weapons now!" He started dragging Aragorn backwards, towards the forest. Aragorn's gaze met Edren's. The elf stood amongst a pile of dead orcs, both black and red blood staining his tunic, his eyes narrowed and his jaw tight as Mornaeg inched closer to the dark underbrush.

Suddenly, Mornaeg whirled, pulling Aragorn towards the forest. With the knife gone, Aragorn found his voice, and fought to stay outside the tree line. "Elladan! Legolas is-" Mornaeg jerked him hard, cutting off his breath momentarily, but Aragorn was determined. "He's alive, he's-" he gasped. "He's in the tree, Elladan!" another gasp. "The tree! THE BURNING TREE!"

"Shut up!" Mornaeg struck him hard in the stomach and dragged him into the darkness of the forest. Out from the brush stepped Aragorn's brothers, standing pale and a bit disoriented. Elladan ran to check on Edren, but Elrohir seemed rooted to the spot, watching where Aragorn had been.

"Estel-"

"Elrohir, he's going to be all right," Elladan admonished firmly. Elrohir only nodded as Elladan hollered off into the trees, "Adda, the tree! That way!"

- - - - -

He was dead. By the Valar…after all these years, he'd actually managed to die. Incredible. A warm breeze brushed his face, and he smiled at it. He let his eyes stay closed for awhile until they forced themselves open. He could see a white sky with yellow leaves waving at it atop deep red tree trunks. The leaves were glowing, but Legolas could not see the sun. He sat up slowly.

The grass he'd been lying in was gentle and soft despite the fact that it was a husky brown. He surveyed the sky again. Still no sun. Rising to his feet, he realized that he felt surprisingly light. Yes, definitely dead. Again, incredible! Could these really be the Halls of Mandos? They did not look at all how he had imagined them. For one thing- shouldn't there be others there? He began to walk, head tilted all the way back, still gazing at the sky.

It was then that he realized the light was not coming from the sky, it seemed to be coming from up ahead. A great light shone between the tall trees, casting long, black shadows across the dark grass. It must be a huge fire of some kind! Legolas, intrigued, took off at a run towards the ball of golden light, feet smacking with soft ground without a sound.

At last he reached a clearing. In a perfect circle of trees, there was a prefect circle of cobble-stones. And in the exact center of the stones, a small, round candle, barely as wide as Legolas' palm sat, its flame utterly erect. It took the prince a moment to figure out why this looked so odd to him. Then he realized, the flame was not moving at all. Even as a warm breeze swept up behind him, ruffling his tattered cloths and hair, the flame did not flicker.

Something was scratched in the stone beside the candle, and Legolas knelt to read it:

_For Legolas_

_Beloved son, Honored prince,_

_Courageous warrior, True friend_

_Remember…_

But the words written afterwards were obliterated as though blasted away with sand and time.

Remember? Remember what? He was dead, what did _he_ have to remember? His eyes fell on the candle again. The flame continued to shine, unwavering. _Like friendship._

_What?_

"Like friendship."

Legolas whirled, but no one was there. "Who speaks?"

"Frienship does not waver at a wind."

He faced the clearing again. Still no one. How could a voice be so clear, and come from nowhere? "And a friendship like ours-" His hand went to his mouth. Had- had he spoken? "Don't be afraid, Legolas." He said, kneeling beside the candle once more. The inscription in the cobblestone was gone, and replaced with a new one:

_Don't be afraid, Legolas._

"A friendship like ours lasts forever."

_Yes._

"Forever like an-" Suddenly, there was no inscription in the stone at all. Just the candle. Just the- "everlasting candle."

Silence filled the empty spaces around him. He couldn't die.

"Why not?"

Because…of the candle. Because of friendship. Because-

"ARAGORN!" Legolas sat bolt-upright, arms flailing for support. They found it. Strong hands were pulling on his tunic, dragging him. "I can't die, I'm not ready," he muttered pleadingly, "friendship, doesn't…it doesn't…the candle, grab the candle!"

"Legolas, look at me. Look at me!" The hands were now scrambling all over his body, looking for injuries, touching his forehead, his neck, his arms. Then both hands were on either side of his face, shaking him. "Legolas? Legolas!"

Legolas' eyes opened, and he was staring a dark sky with trees swaying over it. The ground beneath him was hard, and the air was full of smoke. And someone was kneeling over him. His eyes focused slowly on the face, and when they finally did, he still thought he was seeing incorrectly. "A…Adar?" Legolas hadn't noticed tears in Thranduil's eyes, but one slipped down the king's face and tapped the Legolas on cheek before Thranduil collected his son into his arms and held him tightly.

"Hannon le, Illuvatar. Thank you…Oh, Legolas, forgive me."

"I do, Adar-" Legolas gasped, still trying to pull himself together. "It's all right."

"Valar, you're alive…You're- you're all right."

Legolas could think of nothing to say, so he returned his father's embrace, and watched the tree in which he'd been held captive, go up in flames. _Sorry, Mornaeg. Not this time._ Then he remembered. "Adar- the candle!"

Thranduil held him at arm's-length. "The what?"

Legolas sat back on his heels, hands on either side of his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "The…oh, Aragorn. Aragorn, where is Aragorn?"

"Mornaeg has him." Legolas looked up and saw Elrond and his sons coming out of the tree line. It was Elrond who had spoken. "He managed to tell us where Morneag had taken you, but then the both of them disappeared. We can't figure out where they've gone, Legolas, they just disappeared."

Legolas rose shakily to his feet, swaying to the side. It felt like his head was still full of smoke. Thranduil quickly helped him stand, supporting his son against his shoulder until Legolas found his feet. Legolas nodded his thanks to his father, and then faced Elrond again. "I think Mornaeg will go back to the Halls. That's where all this started and I think- knowing him, it's where he'll want to finish it."

Elrohir couldn't seem to stop the words from spilling out, "Aragorn could be dead before we get there!"

"Calm, Elrohir," Elrond said sternly, and Elladan put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We will find a way."

When Thranduil spoke, his voice was low and hesitant. "There is a…a much quicker way. Anyway, it should still be there, I'm not sure…" No one spoke. Every eye rested on the king. He continued, "Well, it's a tunnel. It runs from the forest to the Halls' south-"

"What?" Legolas looked dumbfounded. "Are you sure?"

Thranduil nodded, looking at Elrond now. "It is…the only way to get to young Estel before Mornaeg does something."

Elrond nodded slowly, and Legolas sensed something unseen passed between the two elder elves' gazes. "Very well. Elladan? Take Edren, and the both of you ride towards the Halls fast as you can. If you meet Mornaeg on your way, do anything you must to get your brother back. I will stay with Elrohir and gather together the rest of the captives here, then we will ride with you. Thranduil, you and Legolas will go find this tunnel and get to the Halls"

Legolas was nodding vigorously as though every piece of instruction was meant for him. Finally, a plan, something that could work. Never again would he lose Aragorn. Never. "Daurrè is here as well, he can assist you with Elrohir."

"Good, we'll need the help," Elrohir put in, "Mornaeg may be gone, but there are many orcs."

"Perhaps…too many." Legolas was suddenly taken aback. Could he honestly leave Elrond, Elrohir and Daurrè here alone to battle the orcs?

Elrond smiled. "We will have help, Legolas, don't worry."

"Who?"

"Believe it or not, Elrohir and I have befriended a colony of dwarves who, according to Binwen, are even now on their way to assist." Legolas smiled back. The elves were to battle orcs with dwarves by their side. Who knew?

"Then we shall leave at once."

Elrond pressed his palm to his heart and pulled it out in a sweeping motion. Legolas, Thranduil and Elladan returned the gesture. "Safe passage to all of you."

- - - - -

"Where is it?" Legolas was beginning to pant, battling back the temptation to become tired.

"Almost there."

"Father, why would there be a tunnel in the-"

"Here it is! It's still here!" Thranduil ran up ahead, and Legolas, still swaying a bit on his feet, followed. He stopped short when he realized where they were.

"This is the cave. The one where Bodruith grew the first crop of Bengwiil, the ones with which he poisoned me." He looked quizzically at his father. "What are we doing here?" Thranduil seemed as though he were about to speak, but he shook his head and plunged into the cave. "Adar!" Legolas took off after him. Thranduil must have found some flint, because the torch he'd brought was all ready lit when Legolas reached him and lit his own.

"I cannot recall where it was…" Thranduil was searching the walls, covered in charred remains of Bengwiil. Legolas could still remember coming in here, watching this cave go up in flames not several days…_by Valar, has it really been only a few days?_ He also remembered where he'd found Aragorn.

"Here, Adar, down here." He went for the hole in the floor, and found the rock at its mouth was still pulled back. Both the elves slipped into the narrow room below. "I found Aragorn down here when I rescued him." He pointed vaguely to the patches of dirt that were still black with dried blood. "This is all there is down here, though, just this room." But Thranduil was looking around the walls of the pit.

"Legolas, do you know where the Elestar star is from here?" Legolas closed his eyes, ears tuned for the star's voice. Finally, he pointed forward and to the left a bit.

"Though, I can't be sure, it's hard to hear them underground." Thranduil nodded, and went to the direction in which Legolas had pointed. "What is it, Adar?"

Thranduil dug his fingers into the dirt wall and wrenched a handful out. Before Legolas' eyes, the wall crumbled away, revealing the open mouth of a tunnel. "I have a lot to explain, Legolas."

- - - - -

As father and son ran down the tunnel, torches before them, Thranduil recounted his story. The true story. It seemed as though this tale had been buried in the tunnel and just now came back from the dead.

Bodruith had not been lying to Legolas, what felt like years ago, when he'd first poisoned him with Bengwiil. The dwarf's father had been caught in a cave-in while building this tunnel. The tunnel that led to the secret room under Legolas' bed. It all made sense now…

Thranduil had commissioned the dwarves to dig this tunnel as a safe-guard for his son. The king had become afraid for Legolas' life since the boy's mother died, and so he'd called on the masterminds of tunnel-building, despite his concern of involving the dwarves in their security. He'd felt as though he had no choice.

The dwarves were paid well, and everything went smoothly, until the accident. During the building of that escape tunnel, Browin had been caught in a cave-in, and his brother, Fulien, had run to the king for assistance. He knew of the fabled Bengwiil and believed it was the only thing that could save his brother. Thranduil told him that every trace of Bengwiil had been destroyed, but he lied. He'd kept small sample of it.

"Adar, why?" Legolas demanded, his voice echoing emptily off the tunnel walls.

"Legolas, I'd realized that- I discovered…" Thranduil sighed, kneading his forehead. "Because when I burn it, I see your mother again. I was terrified to use it again after what happened to Minaeg, but I was even more terrified to let it go completely and risk never seeing her again. So I kept some Bengwiil."

"Then…Bodruith did not lie. You did refuse him the one thing that could have saved his father?"

"I believe I did, Legolas…I'm sorry. I did not trust the dwarves with Bengwiil. As it was, they knew my son's only exit from the Halls. But what else could I do? The elves are not masters of the underground. It was the only way, but I could not risk giving them any more confidence than I all ready had."

Legolas wasn't sure what to say to that, but another thought entered his mind. "So- was it by accident that Bodruith stumbled across that cave- the one we were just in -and found the Bengwiil?"

"Legolas, I think now that I have heard your recounting of Bodruith's story, that it was no accident that he ended up in that cave. I believe he had every intention of coming down this tunnel, into your room and exacting his revenge on me." Thranduil's voice shook slightly. "I believe it was his finding the Bengwiil that saved your life, believe it or not."

"I thought Bodruith said he'd gone with the intention of letting the spiders in that cave kill him, but he discovered it was empty, so he simply left with the Bengwiil."

"Wouldn't you rather say you'd planned to end your life but changed your mind in favor or revenge?"

"I guess it sounds less like indecision than attempting one type of revenge and giving it up for a different kind."

Thranduil shrugged, taking off down the tunnel again, Legolas in-toe. "And anyway, it would mean indicating that I had every reason to distrust him, and he wanted the blame to be squarely on my shoulders." He sighed, pausing a moment. "Which it is. It really is all my fault, Legolas. I did wrong by you, by Bodruith's father and his uncle…it was dishonorable of me to lie." He came to a full stop, and turned to Legolas. "Can you forgive me, ion-nin? For many things?"

"For everything, Adar. I do."

Thranduil smiled, a corner of his mouth turning to bewilderment. "How, Legolas? How can you so easily forgive?"

Legolas smiled back, and then looked down towards his feet. "Adar…when I- well, fell apart after we thought Estel had died?" Thranduil nodded. "I tried…to kill myself." He did not wait to see his father's reaction. "But I told Aragorn this, and it tore him up inside, I could tell. And still he forgave me for it completely."

"How can you know that forgiveness is complete, Legolas?" his father asked quietly, his voice distant and perhaps desperate.

"You know? I didn't even hear Aragorn say he forgave me. He didn't get that chance." Legolas unbuttoned the top of his tunic, running his fingers over the skin where there'd once been a scar. "There can be no scars where there is forgiveness, Adar. I think you'll find the scars of your regret will disappear as well."

For the second time that evening, Thranduil let go of whatever it was that held him back as an affectionate father for years and held his son tightly. When he spoke again his voice was steady, but Legolas still knew he'd cried. "I love you, Legolas."

"Isten, Adda. I always knew."


	15. More Than You Know

**Chapter 15**

**More Than You Know**

"I'm confused, Mornaeg. What is it you hold against me?"

"I said shut up! Shut up unless you want to die right here, human!"

Aragorn shrugged, knowing full-well his calm attitude was annoying Mornaeg. He wasn't sure why he was so calm, but he knew Mornaeg was dying to ask him. Still, he continued to pace, pretending to ignore the human's presence.

It'd been relatively easy to get into the Halls without anyone noticing; the price they paid for going to Araogrn and Edren's rescue, Aragorn supposed. With the king, Legolas and half the warriors gone, Mornaeg had had not difficulty getting in. And now they were in Aragorn's guestroom. Aragorn sat on the bed, hands still behind his back, and Mornaeg paced the floor in front of the locked door. He'd been doing that ever since Aragorn's comment about Legolas being alive. Despite his stoic denial, the human's words had clearly unnerved Mornaeg. Eventually, he stood still, facing Aragorn.

"Why are you lying to yourself, human?"

Aragorn sighed, leaning his head against the bedpost. "Mornaeg…I'm not."

"You are wrong, little Estel. There is no possible way that Legolas could have escaped. Even if they did find him, he was dead the moment I sealed the entrance to that tree. He cannot defeat Bengwiil, I've seen what it does to him."

Aragorn shrugged, looking down at his boots. "I don't know how, Mornaeg, but Legolas is alive. He held on for me. He wouldn't die on me now, he promised."

Mornaeg came to stand in front of the human, leaning forward until the two were barely a few inches apart. "That is ridiculous, mortal, even for you."

"I suppose it is." Aragorn slid forward on the bed, causing Mornaeg to back up a bit. "But it's still true, and I think you know it. Legolas didn't die because…because I don't know how to lose him. I need him like he needs me."

"Friendship," Mornaeg scoffed at the word, "has nothing to do with factors of logic." He pressed a hand to the man's chest, forcing him back to the bed. If you shoot a man in the heart he dies, naïve little Estel."

Aragorn sat back down, and nodded. "But if you shoot a man in the heart and he was in love, he fights his death that he may see his beloved again. That's really why Bengwiil kills, Mornaeg, because it takes away that hope and replaces it with your logic. I pulled Legolas through Bengwiil's poison, as he did me. We've made it many times. It is possible your brother could have done the same, had you been there. And yet you blame Legolas for-"

The blow sent Aragorn flying off the bed. His head struck the wall, and everything danced around him for a moment. "Don't. You. DARE accuse me of killing my own BROTHER!" His boot hit Aragorn in the chest. The human gasped, and tried to pull himself off the floor, but Mornaeg hauled him to his feet first. "Why, Estel? Why on Middle EARTH would you think you know anything about what happened that day? DECADES before you were even born?"

Doubled over, he gasped his reply. "I know Legolas, Mornaeg-"

"You do NOT know him!" he slammed the human against the wall to emphasize. "I know him, Estel, I've known him for years upon years upon years!"

Aragorn was suddenly shouting. "Did you hold him every night to fight his nightmares? No, Edren did! Did you carry him up a million stone steps just so he could see the stars again? No, that was me! Do you know what his mother smelled like, Mornaeg? Did you know he wept when your brother died? Do you have any idea what he is really afraid of? No, you don't! You don't know! You could have, but you threw it away!"

"I hate him!"

"Well he doesn't hate you!"

"Yes he does, yes he does!"

Aragorn's voice dropped dangerously low. "No he doesn't, Mornaeg."

Mornaeg was screaming now. "HE SHOULD!"

Three things happened at once: The door crashed in, Legolas and Thranduil ran into the bedroom with five armed elves behind them, and Mornaeg thrust his dagger into Aragorn's heart.

- - - - -

If ever there was a moment when the world went completely still, when even sound and air held its breath, it was that moment. Legolas was walking towards Mornaeg in a dream. He reached Aragorn, somehow, and the human was in his arms. He untied Aragorn's hands. The human looked at him, first into his eyes, then through them…then somewhere far, far away. And then like curtains over a window, his eyelids fluttered closed over his stare. He was still. And-

Mornaeg was gasping. "Dead." Legolas did not look at Mornaeg, but he could feel the elf's eyes on the back of his head. Finally, he met his green eyes and was surprised to see fear in them. "You should…be dead, Lindo. How- did…"

"I held on for Aragorn." Legolas' voice sounded strange in Mornaeg's ears, like someone in the next room was talking. "I couldn't die on him, I promised. I know it sounds crazy, Mornaeg…but I just don't know how to lose him."

"But you have!" Mornaeg pointed accusingly down at Aragorn's body. "He's dead, Lindo, he's- I killed him! Now what will you do? I was right. You hear me, little Estel, DO YOU! I was right! A man cannot live off of- of- friendship," he spat the word out disdainfully.

There was a moment of silence while Mornaeg waited for Legolas to react. But he didn't. He wouldn't. He just stared. "Lindo- he's dead, did you hear me, dead!" Legolas didn't reply. "DEAD!"

"No he's not."

"What!"

"He- he's not dead." Legolas looked silently back at Mornaeg.

"No, no he's dead. I stabbed him through, look!" He reached for the dagger, and the elves around Thranduil pressed forward.

"No, wait." Legolas told them, and they froze.

Mornaeg jerked the dagger out of Aragorn's chest. He didn't notice when it didn't make a sound. "Look, Lindo, look!" He thrust the dagger in front of Legolas. "Look at the blood, look at- well, look at Estel! I drove it into his heart, he died!" He laughed harshly. This was his moment, this was what he'd been building up to! The moment where he'd killed Lindo in the best way he knew how. Better than Bengwiil, better than torture of any physical kind. Little elf-adoptee Estel was dead, gone. Lindo's only friend anymore was gone.

And still Legolas did not weep?

"Lindo-"

"Mornaeg…I'm sorry." Legolas' eyes were a picture of determination tinged with regret. "I'm sorry." He reached over his shoulder, grabbed his dagger, and without a pause, thrust it into Mornaeg's chest.

The world tipped in the elf's vision, it swirled and bucked in front of him. He suddenly realized the dagger he'd been holding was gone. His hand was empty. Aragorn- what! -Aragorn was sitting beside Legolas, watching him with sad eyes, piteous eyes…alive eyes.

Bengwiil.

_It shows what you're afraid of. Your deepest fears._

So what are you afraid of, Mornaeg?

That friendship is everything Lindo said it was.

That you gave it all up in favor of bitter revenge.

That you could have been happy.

_That Estel was right._

- - - - -

Tears slipped down Legolas' face as he watched Mornaeg slide down the wall. The blood that seeped from around the blade was a deep green, so dark it was almost black. He'd been completely saturated by Bengwiil.

"I'm sorry about Minaeg, mellon-nin." Legolas whispered, moving closer.

"How…" Mornaeg coughed hard, "how can you say that, Lindo? You…killed…no, it wasn't- it wasn't…where is Minaeg? What- what have I…" It was then that his eyes began to change. The deep green of Bengwiil drained from the irises and slowly a pair of deep, kind, brown eyes looked back at Legolas. The eyes he remembered from his childhood. The eyes of a best friend. Legolas felt a small sob shake his shoulders.

"Tiro-Lim."

Mornaeg's gaze fixed on the young elf's face, as though looking at him for the first time in centuries. Perhaps he was. "Legolas?"

It was something poetic and heartbreaking. Mornaeg had not called the prince 'Legolas' since the day Minaeg died. And it would be his last word spoken before his eyes shut and his body became limp. No one knew how to react then. Wasn't he a murderer? Wasn't he evil?

In a shaky voice, Legolas answered the unasked question. "This creature killed the only elder brother I had." And without a further word, he helped Aragorn to his feet, and the two of them left the room together, weary, tired…perhaps torn.

When Thranduil went looking for them after Mornaeg's body had been cleared from the room, he found them both on Legolas' bed, half-buried in a mountain of pillows, muddy clothes leaving ugly stains on the white linens. Both were completely asleep. Quietly, a satisfied smile on his face, Thranduil shut the door silently and turned back down the hallway.


	16. Finally and Completely

**Chapter 16**

**Finally and Completely.**

Elrond returned that next morning with the good news that Mornaeg's orcs had scattered to the four winds, and every trace of Bengwiil left in that camp had been destroyed. The elves were freed and Elladan, Elrohir and Edren had returned with hardly a scratch on them. No one really could get a straight answer as to where Daurrè and Átniir were, but with Elladan and Elrohir's jibes about "enjoying a midnight stroll in the flower gardens" and "having a picnic and tea in the woods, I expect…" The most lucid response was a hint from Elrond that Aragorn's room in Rivendell was being borrowed for a short time.

Legolas and Aragorn both woke up with splitting headaches. Aragorn claimed he hadn't felt that dreadful since the last time he'd been to some pub called The Prancing Pony, and Legolas said that was why he never drank much ale.

The morning was a good one. Quiet, but good. Legolas didn't feel like talking much for a little while, except to Aragorn, and even then it was little comments like, "Let's have a walk" or "Pass the bread, will you?" but Aragorn suspected he was going to be all right.

A general feeling of relief had swept the Halls. Thranduil had not yet decided how best to handle Mornaeg's death and burial, though he expected he wouldn't tell Legolas his decision, what ever it was. As far as he was concerned, Legolas had all ready said his proper goodbyes to Mornaeg years ago.

With the afternoon came a difficult task; Legolas had agreed to show Edren to his room again, if he was ready, which Edren said he was. Legolas' heart pounded in his chest all the way through dinner. He had not seen Thernad since returning to the Halls, but he was not looking forward to having to see her and Edren's reunion. He could not even imagine what it must be like to have your own husband utterly forget you.

His knuckles rapped their door, and Aragorn answered it. "Did you tell her?"

Aragorn nodded. "She actually all ready knew. I guess your father told her."

Legolas shrugged in reply. "I suppose that makes sense." He turned to Edren. "Ready?"

Edren looked blankly ahead, trying to collect himself. "And…her name is Nithelian. That right, Nithelian?" Legolas smiled and gave his shoulder an encouraging squeeze, ignoring Aragorn's quizzical looks.

"You'll be okay, Edren." Edren inhaled deeply, then nodded. "All right, here we go." Aragorn pulled the door open, and the two walked in.

Thernad was standing in the living room in a long, lavender dress with flowing sleeves. She smiled when she saw Edren. Legolas felt she was trying not to look overly eager, bless her heart. "Hello, Edren."

Edren stopped halfway across the floor, staring back at her. "Nithel…" he looked suddenly confused. "Legolas, you said this lady's name is Nithelian?" Thernad, too, looked confused. A hint of a smile touched the corner of Leoglas' lips.

"Is there something wrong, Edren?"

"No…No, I just- I don't think that's her name…"

Legolas tried not to sound too hopeful. "Oh?"

"No, her name…There- Tera…no, it's…" he walked towards her, hands outstretched. Thernad reached quickly forward and took his hands in hers. He watched as their fingers interlaced. And then something clicked in his eyes. "Thernad."

"What?" Thernad leaned towards him, her breath held.

"Thernad." He looked up at her, and there were tears in his eyes. "Thernad- Thernad…I knew it, I know…I think…"

"Woah, easy, easy-" Legolas rushed forward as his friend began to topple, but Thernad caught him under the elbows, steadying him.

"Edren? Darling, what's wrong?"

He gripped at her sleeves, pressing the side of his face to her shoulder, inhaling deeply. "Thernad…Thernad." He looked up, meeting her gaze finally. "It's me, Thernad, it's me…I promise."

"Edren?"

"I'm back, I remember it I remember everything, I-" he was almost panicking, he was so excited, and Thernad was crying softly.

"Edren, I love you."

"Oh- oh, Thernad." He pulled her close, kissed her, hugged her, and kissed her again. "I'm sorry, I don't know how it all happened, I- I missed you, I know that, somehow…I missed you so much." It was a long time before Edren opened his eyes again, and he looked over Thernad's shoulder to see Legolas standing there. _Thank you_, he mouthed.

_Welcome back_, Legolas replied.

"Well," Aragorn said quietly, "you were hoping something would spark his memory." Legolas smiled back, nodding, unable to take his eyes of Edren and Thernad.

"I forgot how much I missed him till now." He pressed his palms to his eyes, and Aragorn let him have his silent cry, though he had to admit to himself…it was good to see the prince crying for joy for once in a long, long time.

"I'm so glad that he's back," he said after a moment, putting a hand on Legolas' shoulder.

The elf nodded, looking back at him. "And now it's over, Aragorn. All Mornaeg's evil, it's…now that Edren's back, it's-" His breath hitched, and he cleared his throat, swallowing the emotions inside him. "It's all gone."

"Finally and completely."

Again, Legolas nodded, and the tense muscle between his shoulders relaxed. Everything about him seemed to calm. Finally. Completely.

Aragorn was quiet a moment. Then something occurred to him. "Nithelian, Legolas?"

Legolas laughed, brushing his hands across his face again, clearing the rest of the tears. "It was the first thing that popped into my head."

"Anyone you know?"

"A young elf I once knew. She used to pick on me because I was born before her but she was taller." Aragorn smirked. "Oh hush." Legolas nudged him in the shoulder, and looked back at Edren. Smiling, the two left the room, quietly shutting the door.

- - - - -

The sun had gone down, the stars were out, and in the forest below was a very strange sight: An elf and a human sprawled on the mossy ground, staring at the dark sky, weaponless.

"We should do this more often, Estel."

"Hmn. Your father is going to kill us."

"Why?"

"Because, we're in the middle of the forest in the middle of the night and we're completely unarmed. Don't you think that will bother him rather somewhat?"

Legolas snickered, and flicked Aragorn on the shoulder. "That's the idea, I told you that."

"Feeling suicidal tonight are we?"

"Not really, just…invincible." His voice became serious then, and he shifted his position with a sigh that said he was thinking. "Do you realize, Estel, that we really ought to have died tonight? And last night? And perhaps the night before and several days before that? I mean…honestly, we really shouldn't be here now."

Aragorn shook his head. "I know it. Though- I keep thinking about what Mornaeg said. I mean, Legolas, it's really not possible to live by will alone. Mornaeg was right when he said that if you shoot a man in the heart he dies. It doesn't matter if he's in love, he cannot live with an arrow in his chest. I denied it, but…I think that's just because I didn't _want_ to believe him." He tipped his head back so he could meet Legolas' eyes a moment. "I just wanted to believe you were all right, and it made me irrational, I guess." He looked back up at the stars. "Now I'm not sure what I think."

Legolas was quiet a moment, pondering that. "But you were right, Aragorn. I mean, I was all right, and you knew it. Do you- do you suppose that with our friendship has come a certain…power?" Aragorn was silent, but his skepticism was apparent. "Well, I don't know, maybe not a power. But there's an element inconsistent with logic between us, you have to admit. Somehow you died without dying, I survived being burned alive by sheer willpower and the both of us pulled through despite being poisoned more times than I can even count anymore."

When Aragorn finally spoke again, his voice was smirking. "What's _wrong_ with us, anyway?"

Legolas laughed under his breath and rubbed his eyes with his palm, groaning. "I have no idea."

"Luck, I guess."

"Maybe."

"Maybe not."

"Mhmn, maybe not…"

"…Legolas?"

"Yes?"

"Do you really think we're invisible?"

"What do you think?"

Pause. "I…tend to doubt it."

Legolas laughed. "Me too."

"I guess it just wasn't our time."

"I guess not." Legolas rolled onto his side, facing Aragorn. "Why do you suppose that is? Does this mean we're meant to do something incredible?"

"Maybe." Aragorn rolled over as well, and the two stared at each other a long moment. "I think…maybe I can't go until you don't need me."

They both looked up at the stars again. "Same here."

"Legolas?"

"Hmn?"

"You know…you'll always be my friend."

"Isten."

He shifted again, glancing over at the elf. "Iston?"

"No, isten." Legolas smiled. "I think I always knew that, Estel."

"I know. But the next time someone, someone like Mornaeg, tries to tell you any different, you can say, 'no, because one night under the stars, Aragorn swore he would always be my friend'." He shrugged. "More simple this way."

Legolas seemed to like that idea. "Thank you, mellon-nin."

"Ea le govonnen."

The night sounds filled up the spaces of silence between them, but the air was heavy with Legolas wanting to speak. Aragorn waited patiently.

"…Estel?"

"Hmn?"

"You'll always be my friend."

He smiled and closed his eyes. "Isten."

As the stars brightened, the sky darkened, and the forest became alive with its nocturnal inhabitants, a hawk rested on the highest branch of a sycamore. His gold eyes stared into the undergrowth below and then he heard a sound alien to the natural noises of the late hours. Diving to a lower branch, he cocked his head towards the noise.

"The Road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began-"

"You are off-key."

"You're off-key, I'm harmonizing."

"But you're doing it wrong."

"Now far ahead the Road is-"

"Are you ignoring me?"

"GONE- yes, as a matter of fact -and I must follow-"

"All right, have it your way."

"…if I can."

"If I can."

And through the whole night, not a creature disturbed the sleeping companions.

Maybe it was luck.

But maybe not.

**The End**

_Namarie, mates. It's been real fun. :)_


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